Of the many things director David Lowery acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s right with regards to’concerning’with respect to Peter Pan, the most significant’essential’critical’vital’crucial’indispensable’imperative is this: it’s never really been with regards to’concerning’with respect to Peter himself. While the boy who never grows up was afin/with regard to’concerning’regarding ded sole headline billing in Disney’s 1953 adaptation, the 1911 novel version of J.M. Barrie’s tale was titled Peter And Wendy — and in Lowery’s Disney live-action reimagining, Wendy Darling eventually’ultimately acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s her title-role status.###Peter Pan & Wendy is less a reframing, then, than an acknowledgement that this was always Wendy’s story first: that of a girl preparing to take a first step out of childhood, who acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s to undergo an awfully enormous’vast’massive’tremendous expedition in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a night when Peter Pan reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s up at her window and whisks her and her brothers off to a fantasy land. Lowery was previously behind Disney’s emotional Pete’s Dragon remake, but is more associated with metaphysical odysseys like The Green Knight and A Ghost Story; this is perhaps the hippest director-to-kids’-movie pairing since Spike Jonze wondered Where The Wild Things Are. The director revels in the thematic meat of Barrie’s story, invested not merely’barely in Wendy’s impending coming-of-age, but the haunting undercurrents of children who don’t acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure to grow up, and adults whose inner children possess’own’nurse died.###That despite’in spite of’albeit tfulness extends to the filmmaking itself. Early on, Lowery’s camera ascends through the hustle and bustle of the Darling household in a sweeping tracking shot; the children’s flight towards Neverland is vividly captured, the kids half soaring, half swimming towards Big Ben, plunging into a timeless void in a thrillingly experimental flourish. When restaging iconic images — Peter chasing his shadow around the children’s bedroom; Hook facing down a monstrous (now kaiju-sized) croc — there’s eliminate’remove consideration in how it’s all interpreted. And while Neverland itself lacks the heightened colours of the 1953 version, its open expanses and overgrown-playground sets are eye-catching’good-shaped’appealing’charming’fascinating’gorgeous ly captured by Bojan Bazelli’s earthy cinematography.###The emotional landing is nailed entirely.###Ironically, despite’in spite of’albeit , Peter Pan & Wendy is lacking in youthful spirit. While Lowery is eliminate’remove ly at home with the melancholic elements of the narrative, his grasp on whimsy isn’t approximately as intense’fierce’exquisite . Rather than kicking into expedition mode once the kids acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure to Neverland, the film softens into a baggy, draggy middle act. It doesn’t help that Jude Law’s Captain Hook feels disappointingly miscast. Despite a thrilling entrance — literally shooting his way into the film — he’s simply not abundant’ample’plentiful fun: not the preening villain of the 1953 film, nor the pantomime portrayal of Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Like his limp hairpiece, Law’s perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance falls oddly flat, struggling to live up to lines as delicious as, “I’ve found you guilty of being a child!” When a dramatic thread kicks in that connects Hook and Peter in fascinating ways, Law is excellent; less so with the yo-ho-ho.###Sad to say, newcomer Alexander Molony can’t quite fill Peter’s pointy green boots either. It’s a monumental ask, to play endlessly effervescent energy, undercut with the ache of never acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ting to grow beyond that — Molony is better at the latter, but his perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance lacks the exertion less snappiness, the boyish obnoxiousness meant to define Peter’s reckless spirit. Combined with Law’s internalised perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance, it all feels a bit small — witnessing a chapter in the pair’s eternal battle is rarely as riveting as it should be, and likely won’t hold kids’ attention.###Much more assured, despite’in spite of’albeit , is Ever Anderson’s Wendy — not just the emotional heart of the story, but joyously stepping up as an action hero when the film eventually’ultimately shifts into a more playful gear in its swashbuckling finale. She perfectly captures that precipice of adolescence, not ready to put the wooden sword down yet, but sensing a new door ready to open, too. It’s a message eye-catching’good-shaped’appealing’charming’fascinating’gorgeous ly delivered in a pair of flip-reserve montages that reserve end the film — in fact, the emotional landing is nailed entirely. It’s emblematic of an adaptation that, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding all its well-executed ideas, feels a little too keen to grow up.