Hook (1991) Review

          Hook (1991) is a family action-adventure movie where Peter Pan as an adult (played by Robin Williams) struggles to get along with his kids, as he is so concentrated on his work. He pretty much lost a sense of fun too. Unfortunately for him, his children get kidnapped by Hook from Neverland. So Peter has to go back to Neverland to save them. However, in order to do that, he needs to reclaim his youthful spirit so he can challenge Hook.
          Alright, confession time: I watched the Disney animated version of Peter Pan a bunch of times when I was a kid. I still remember having fun watching the scenes where Hook gets attacked by the crocodile. Haha. Now, I have heard about this adaptation of Peter Pan a few years ago, and this going to sound really shallow but, I was scared of trying it for the simple reason of negative critical reviews this movie got. Yeah, it can be really hard sometimes to judge whether something is worth seeing since films are very subjective. However, I regret avoiding this for so long because I enjoyed "Hook" a lot.
          First off, I really enjoyed the casting. Dustin Hoffman is very menacing as Hook, Bob Hoskins does a great job of portraying a jolly yet somewhat bumbling fool as Smee, Julia Roberts is really cute as Tinkerbell, Maggie Smith is very charming as Wendy, and of course, Robin Williams is awesome in a role who lost all of his childhood sensibilities and happily regains them. Thanks to the acting, I actually found myself caring more about the characters than I initially expected. Also, the sets in Neverland all look beautiful and are filled with glorious detail.
          "Hook" does a very nice job in mixing drama with fun adventure and action, but beyond that, it also felt very magical to the point where I believed and wished this fictional place existed. I'm serious. I truly did feel like a young kid again. Out of all the Peter Pan movies I've seen, this might be favorite. I can't say absolutely for sure, but I might like this more than the Disney cartoon.
           I have a couple of complaints which really don't affect the movie that much. Some of the green screen effects (where Peter Pan is flying) have aged terribly, and while I was thankfully never really bored during its 142 minute running time, there were still a few moments where it felt like it dragged on a tad bit too long. Besides that though, I really had no problems.
           "Hook" is a really good movie that had me more emotionally involved as it went along. I'm very happy I saw it. I don't exactly understand the hate it got. I believe this is so much better than some people make it out to be. Definitely check this one out for sure if you haven't already.
            I give "Hook" (1991) directed by Steven Spielberg a 9 out of 10.