Through the generosity of a colleague, I found myself yesterday with passes to see the sneak preview of the new Peter Pan movie. So I packed up the kids, and resigned myself to a less-than-inspiring movie experience.
I was wrong.
The movie was visually stunning and emotionally rich. (I laughed, I cried...) The plot was surprisingly true to the original story, but with darkness and depth that I hadn't anticipated. The young unknowns playing Peter and Wendy were wonderful--balancing innocence, humor, and sensuality with skill well beyond their years.
It opens for real on Christmas Day, and I give it a hearty thumbs-up. Be warned, however, that the younger kids with us (Weez and brood were there, as well, so we had ages 2, 5, 6, 7, and 9 to poll afterwards) were less mesmerized than the older ones. Weez and I loved it. Lane (age 9) said afterwards, with a real note of surprise "It was way better than I expected." But Alex (age 7) was more blas�, and the younger kids found some of the darker parts troubling.
This morning I'm off to see Return of the King, which should be a very different experience!
