Review: Hook

The Steven Spielberg directed film, Hook, opened on this date in 1991. The film starred Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts.Synopsis:

Peter Pan (Robin Williams) has grown up and forgotten about his former life in Neverland. When his old arch nemesis, Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), kidnaps his kids, Peter must return to Neverland to save them. Can he become the old Pan in time to defeat Hook and bring his family back home?

Positives:

• Hook is one of Steven Spielberg’s funniest films. Most of the best comedic moments come from Williams and Hoffman.

• The sets and art direction are all impressive. The world of Neverland, from the pirate ships to the Lost Boy’s home, is believable because of the level of detail and innovation put into it.
• Hook is one of the rare family films that the whole family can actually enjoy. There are elements that everyone can relate to and it never becomes too gloomy or too juvenile.

Negatives:

• Hook gets a little too syrupy and tries too hard to make an emotional connection with the audience in some scenes. Most of the moments that push the sentimentality too hard involve Julia Roberts and her role as Tinkerbell.

• Some of the action scenes go way over the top. The addition of slapstick humor to most of the fights takes you out of the drama sometimes.
• The music by John Williams isn’t an example of the icon’s best work. The score isn’t bad…it just isn’t at all memorable.

In Closing:

Hook is one of Steven Spielberg’s most successful attempts at comedy and that is largely because of the great cast he assembled. The film offers an interesting and entertaining look at what it means to be an ‘adult.’ It has enough emotion to appeal to adults and kids will love the spectacle of it all. Hook is one of the better family films of the 1990s.

Grade: B