Neverland: El país de Nunca Jamás

Ingredients; Handfuls of Oliver Twist, Cap'n Hook, Peter Pan, Pocahontas, The Pied Piper, a pinch of Pirates of the Caribbean, and cup of Harry Potter.

Stir well as you throw in some sugar & bitter herbs.

Over-bake for 3 hours.

Top generously with cheeze.

Yeh - it's slightly weird-good-bad-interesting like that. Like a strange dish thrown together with similar, familiar ingredients you have on hand, and which you use in large amounts for volumn bc extra people may show up.

I typically pick out the green beans, and select more of the stuff I like.

Probably infuriates the cook . . .

Not a terrible kids movie. But no block buster.

Not a complete waste of time, but not anything to write home about.

Somewhat engaging, but not totally immersive.

Got kids?

Need 3 hours of quiet?

Feed them this.

The little ones will fall asleep from the digestion overload . . .

For the ADDs, around halftime, possibly promise a desert or treat if they sit still & keep watchin' . . .

Not too shabby two episodes in! Interested to see where it goes, but hard with Peter Pans story already over told... want to see if the plot is taken anywhere unique though...

I wondered just how much similarity SyFy's version of a Peter Pan prequel would have with the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson "Peter and the Starcatchers" series, and come to find out there actually is some. A powder that has the ability to make one fly ("Starstuff"), an obsessed crocodile ("Mr. Grin"), and the names of Peter's mates -- not the first group, who returned to England at the end of the first book, but the next group: Slightly, Tootles, Curly, Nibs, and The Twins.

There's also a bit of a hat tip to Michael Scott and his "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" series in "Dr. Flood", who introduced himself as the Alchemyst to Queen Elizabeth the First. Of course, her majesty's Alchemyst was Dr. John Dee, who actually had nothing to do with the Philosopher's (or Sorcerer's) Stone; that was Nicholas Flamel...which brings us to yet another great series of books, this time by J.K. Rowling!

By the way, I'm almost 68 years old and I still enjoy books and movies of this sort!

This is a prequel dealing with Peter Pan (Charlie Rowe) as an orphan on the streets of London. Peter and his band of thieves work as pickpockets. Their evil mentor Jimmy Hook (Rhys Ifans) gets them to steal a magical treasure which transports them to Neverland. Once there Hook join with a group of pirates led by Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel) in search of more magic dust. Peter lands with the Indians and the beautiful Aaya (Q'orianka Kilcher) where the people don't age.

The story lack any pace. It drags along. With 240 minutes, this is way too long. It doesn't help that they explain away the magic. It reminds me of Star Wars explaining away The Force. Why can't they leave it alone? The acting is acceptable. All the big name give the expected performance. Charlie Rowe as Peter Pan is average. As for the production, it's got TV movie level. It's nothing to brag about. It's dark and dreary. Again all the magic is gone.

not better than others. not worst. only new adventures in a new frame. for fans of Peter Pan - a must see. for the others - good occasion to discover a prequel who did few explanations, who use magic and the enthusiastic young characters for a trip in essence of a well known story, same fascinating, seductive and charming. it is difficult to say anything about "Neverland" . bad or good. because it has an interesting start point of story - Dickens would be proud as source of memories - and the technology did a great job. but the film has not the force to be a revelation. decent acting, nice adventures. and nothing else. but enough for a nice evening after a work day.