Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ Can’t Fly

REVIEW: ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ Can’t Fly

Swara SalihBy Swara Salih04/28/20235 Mins ReadUpdated:04/28/2023
Peter Pan and Wendy — But Why Tho (1)
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Peter Pan and Wendy — But Why Tho (1)

Another Disney live-action adaptation is hitting our streaming services, namely that of Peter Pan and Wendy. But does this new film have enough pixie dust needed to carry it through? Peter Pan and Wendy stars Alexander Molony, Ever Gabo Anderson, Yara Shahidi, Jude Law, Alyssa Wapanatahk, Joshua Pickering, and Jacobi Jupe. David Lowery is the director, and co-writer with Toby Halbrooks, basing it on the original 1953 animated adaptation of the original novel by J.M. Barrie.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

When we start Peter Pan and Wendy, we find the Darling parents (Molly Parker and Alan Tudyk) about to send their eldest daughter Wendy  (Ever Gabo Anderson) off to boarding school (what a way to up the stakes!). Wendy, much like in the original film, only wants time to stay still, and continue to play make believe games with her younger brothers John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe). But Wendy gets exactly what she asked for and more, when the Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) and Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi) of her mother’s stories comes crashing in the Darling household in the middle of the night, whisking them immediately off to Neverland.

Wonderful allies await them like the gender-inclusive Lost Boys, and Tiger Lily (Alyssa Wapanatahk) await them, but also dastardly and villainous pirates led by the nefarious Captain Hook (Jude Law). However, is there more to the classic story about Peter Pan and Captain Hook than we’ve been told before? David Lowery’s vision says yes, there is more, and attempts to add more nuanced complexity to this classic tale. But does this work in the full scope of the narrative that Lowery and his co-writers set-up? Unfortunately, the results are mixed at best.

Peter Pan and Wendy — But Why Tho (1)

Peter Pan and Wendy is an attempt to update its original problematic source material, while giving some of its characters more depth. Occasionally this works, especially with Ever Gabo Anderson and Alyssa Wapanatahk as Wendy and Tiger Lily. Lowery and Halbrooks script gives the Native American character far more agency than she ever did in previous adaptations, making her a strong ally to Peter (Molony), Wendy, and their friends. Wapanatahk is a star in the making who stands out in her first major film role with determination, strength, and grace.

Likewise, Wendy, as played by Anderson, is a step up from her original incarnation. The film gives us more depth into her motivations and insecurities as her parents implore her to “grow up”. Anderson has great range in the role, as she feistily butts heads with Peter, her family, and the Lost Boys. But she also shows them great compassion. Her interactions with Tinkerbell (Shahidi) are great as well. Overall, it’s the girls who steal the show here.

Unfortunately, not much can be said for the rest of the cast as Lowery and Halbrooks’ script doesn’t do them many favors. While Moloney does his best as Peter, the deeper conflicts the script attempts to give him are half-baked at best. This is particularly true in the conflict with Law’s Captain Hook. Law has his moments as the classic Disney villain where he chews up the scenery, but the material flounders him into a half-hearted sympathetic antagonist. He doesn’t get a real resolution in the narrative. It’s frustrating that Lowery and Halbrooks had some interesting ideas of what they wanted to do with the character but didn’t know how to follow through on them to make meaningful commentary on the conflict between him and Peter. Instead, it comes up shallow and rather forgettable.

Peter Pan and Wendy — But Why Tho (2)

And unfortunately, Neverland is rather shallow as well. Lowery, while showing some beautiful landscape shots, frustratingly keeps the scope of the mythical runaway land limited. We get one glimpse of the mermaids as the kids are flying, and that’s it from them. The main plot is solely focused on the Lost Boys and the Pirates, and while there are some attempts at fun personalities from these various characters, they also end up being shallow with little to no laughs or intrigue. In many ways, Peter Pan and Wendy feels like a checklist of a movie, devoid of the heart it pretends to have. Again, while certain characters like Wendy and Tiger Lily are afforded more depth, particularly because of the strength of their performers, the rest of the film doesn’t fare so well.

A beautiful spectacle might have buttressed the film to higher quality. But alas, Lowery applies terrible lighting throughout the movie that sinks it further. So many scenes are so dark that you can barely tell what’s happening on screen. While there are a few scenes of good lighting in the landscape of Neverland, almost everything else looks drab and dry. Lowery’s application of tactless realism even applies to the fairy Tinker Bell, where he said he couldn’t possibly light her up because, apparently, audiences would question her light source.

There is nothing to explain. Tinker Bell is a magical being, and that explanation should easily suffice. And unfortunately, in what should be a great showcase for Black Iranian-American actress Yara Shahidi, Lowery choosing not to give her adequate lighting on her skin meshes her into the background of his drab and dry Neverland. It’s 2023, and Black and brown actors on screen deserve so much better.

Peter Pan and Wendy has its moments, but a frustrating lack of imagination by Lowery holds it back from reaching the heights that Neverland deserves. Instead, it’s a dry reimagining that has apparent poignant yet half-baked and ultimately forgettable moments. If you watch it for anything, watch it for Wendy and Tiger Lily. But alas, even they cannot save this mess of a movie, particularly as they must share their screen time with many others. If it had better lighting, it would at least be pleasant to look at. Still, Lowery, unfortunately, didn’t put the effort in for that, so here we are with yet another forgettable Disney live-action adaptation.

Peter Pan and Wendy is streaming exclusively on Disney+.

Rating
  • 5/10
    Peter Pan and Wendy - 5/10
5/10

TL;DR

Peter Pan and Wendy has its moments, but a frustrating lack of imagination by Lowery holds it back from reaching the heights that Neverland deserves. Instead, it’s a drab and dry reimagining that has apparent poignant moments that are half-baked and ultimately forgettable.

 

  • Watch Now With Our Affiliate Link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Saint X’ Is A Forgettable Adaptation
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Daredevil,’ Issue #10
Swara Salih

Swara is a data scientist and a co-host of The Middle Geeks. He loves talking about politics, animals, nature, and all things Star Trek, DC, Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra, and Steven Universe.

Related Posts

The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

09/11/2025
Natasha O’Keeffe in Whitetail
6.5

TIFF 2025: ‘Whitetail’ Is An Intimate View Of A Woman Stuck In Time

09/10/2025
Love Brooklyn
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Rests on Pretty

09/10/2025
Park Jeong-min in The Ugly
7.0

TIFF 2025: ‘The Ugly’ Is A Harsh Exercise In Self-Reflection

09/09/2025
No Other Choice
9.0

TIFF 2025: ‘No Other Choice’ Delivers a Bleak Vision of Capitalism

09/09/2025
Molly Lewis in Whistle
8.0

TIFF 2025: ‘Whistle’ Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

09/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Gojo Jujutsu Kaisen - But Why Tho (2) Features

Everything To Know About Satoru Gojo

By Kate Sánchez09/07/2023Updated:02/16/2025

Satoru Gojo is the heart of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 — now, heading into Cour 2, here is everything you need to know about the character.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here