BANGARANG!
Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to [email protected].
Flashing blades, roaring cannons, daring rogues swinging through the air to the aid of their true loves and to battle dastardly villains – there’s a definitive image, however ephemeral in exact detail, that comes to mind when you hear the word “swashbuckler.” Stories of romantic adventure in this vein stretch back at least to the days of Alexandre Dumas’s Musketeers, Baroness Orczy’s Scarlett Pimpernel, and Sir Walter Scott’s Wilfred of Ivanhoe, and they’ve been mined for cinematic adaptation and inspiration almost since the birth of the medium, and their influence can be seen from Jack Sparrow’s Caribbean to galaxies far, far away. This month sees Cinapse’s team looking at nearly a century of swashbuckling sagas from their black-and-white roots to the brand-new reinventions of the form to examine why these tales are so enticing, so timeless, and who told them the best.
The Pick: Hook (1991)
When I first proposed Hook as my contribution to our swashbuckling month, I was met with some definitive opposition, noting that it’s not even the best Peter Pan film for the theme. But as a 40-something Xennial, Hook was a vital part of my childhood and – even if it’s simply nostalgia goggles – it’s my favorite Pan story, period. I thought the actual swashbuckling was pretty fun. But… I guess we’ll have to see what others think below.
Featured Guest
Devindra Hardawar
Filmcast Co-Host and Senior Editor for Engadget
Hook was a movie of many firsts for me. It was my introduction to the Peter Pan story at the age of probably seven or eight. It was the first time I saw a bad-ass brown kid – Dante Basco’s Rufio – in a big Hollywood movie. And it was my first taste of seeing the difficulty that adults have of maintaining their child like innocence, and also being present for their own kids.
Come to think of it, Hook was probably the first time that I saw a story that dealt with a haunting sense of loss. I think back to the idea of Grandma Wendy being the one who originally loved Peter, but who couldn’t stay with him, and who had to sit and watch him marry her granddaughter. He gave up his free-wheeling life for his granddaughter and not for her. I think of Tinker Bell, who also loved Peter, but could never really be with him and was ultimately abandoned. I think of the Lost Boys who lost their leader and then just had to fend for themselves against a murderous pirates. And I think of Peter’s real parents, who lost their infant child one day without any explanation.
I was shocked to learn as I got older that was considered a complete failure for Steven Spielberg. As a kid, it was a movie I watched countless times after I recorded it from HBO on an old VHS tape (and ultimately had to re-record after I wore that down). Looking at it now as an adult who dabbles in film criticism, I can absolutely see Hook‘s flaws. But I don’t think it’s a complete failure, even if Spielberg himself believes it is. And as a father myself, it hits even harder now. I used to be a kid who never wanted to grow up – now, at the very least, I want to be an adult that always has a soft spot for Hook.
The Team
Brendan Agnew
What a gloriously messy “one that got away from everyone” Hook is. This is clearly Spielberg back in the same “maximum everything” mode that capsized 1941, and while this movie is more successful that his WWII farce, it’s still unbalanced and bursting at the seams. For a film with such a relatively streamlined premise – Peter Pan has to return to Neverland to save his kids – there’s so many wacky asides and elongated subplots that the through line almost gets lost. And you can still see the scissor where huge sections were clearly cut (I know it’s insane to ask *more* from a 2½ hour movie, but I really wanna see the deleted material about what Maggie was doing).
But for all that, “the Ultimate Family Blockbuster Director making a Peter Pan movie with Robin Fucking Williams as The Eternal Youth” still delivers mostly what you want from that pitch. Williams relearning how to fly remains one of the great exhilarating sequences of 90s cinema with John Williams adding an entire extra star with his score, the cast may chew too much and too loudly on the scenery but it never stops being enjoyable to watch them do it, and the production design overdelivers with some truly unforgettable locations on those massive sets.
I could (easily) pull apart the saggy screenplay or the overstuffed cast (and I’ll admit the ’90s skater boy version of the Lost Boys is kinda laughable), but when Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams are swashbuckling around a T-rex sized dead crocodile, all the negatives kinda melt away. HOOK never fully coalesces into the perfect version of itself that it should be, but it’s still low-key a bangarang followup to one of my favorite stories ever.
Frank Calvillo
What if Peter Pan grew up? That was the original concept that set the ball rolling on this movie which defined a whole generation’s childhood and came to represent one of the lesser moments of director Steven Spielberg’s career. Much has been written about Hook’s journey to the big screen. There were the various script problems, the project itself changing hands, Kevin Kline being replaced by Robin Williams due to scheduling issues, the friction between Spielberg and Julia Roberts, and the danger of the whole movie getting away from its director due to a ballooning budget and a runaway schedule.
It’s sad to say that the problems still show up on the screen. The creation of the lost boys’ lair, the haphazard fleshing out of their characters, and the various hijinks that the script gives them were fun at a certain point in time, and, might still be for kids today. But it’s clear that, despite having an imagination like Spielberg’s, the intended pleasures of Hook only have so much milage. The jokes aren’t plentiful (despite Williams’ efforts), the magic itself feels halfbaked, and the death of the central lost boy Rufio feels equally in poor taste now as it did in the early 90s.
But if the problems are there, so too are the aspects of the original vision that do work. Reflecting years later, Spielberg commented how he thought the bookends of Hook, as well as the middle flashback sequence, all worked. Indeed, he’s right. It’s interesting seeing an adult Peter Pan in his grown-up element thanks to Williams’ performance as a grade-A yuppie. Meanwhile, the alternate take on how one of the most famous storybook characters came to be (especially concerning his relationship with Wendy) is both surreal and magical.
More than anything else, it’s the trailer that lingers in the memory when it comes to Hook. Seeing Peter’s kids taken from their bedroom gave off feelings of both fear and chills that were eventually replaced with vigor and curiosity as Tinkerbell dragged our hero on his adventure. It was the perfect setup for what promised to be the ultimate take on a classic tale, made even more enticing when that very same question popped up on the screen again. What if Peter Pan grew up? Well, for both better and worse, we got our answer.
Jay Tyler
Hook is one of those films that is nearly impossible for me to judge objectively. I was seven years old when it came out, obsessed with Peter Pan (nothing to unpack there) and a giant Robin Williams fan. It was the first film I remember hotly anticipating, waiting for months for it to be released.
But all that is preamble. What actually lives in my mind is the scope to which it was made. Giant sets with hundreds of extras is ridiculous costumes. A world that is filled to the brim. Objectively it is all a bit busy. But in my mind’s eye it was a fully realized world, brimming with childlike wonder. It is probably the most ersatz version of Spielberg’s childlike wonder, intentionally aligned to a sense of the new 90s aesthetic. The Lost Boys day-glow, skater pseudo apocalyptic vibe is seared into me brain as the height of a punk rock aesthetic that is immediately dated and corny, but goddamn if it doesn’t work for me.
But the real magic of Hook is Hoffman. Unlike Williams, who I knew through his work on Mork and Mindy reruns, I had no connection with Dustin Hoffman. But his performance, histrionic and unbridled, was precisely the kind of living cartoon I craved. I feared him and loved him as a child, and now as an adult I love how he and Bob Hoskins match the outrageous aesthetics of the film with their outsized performances. For any creakiness the movie may carry as an artifact of early 90s vibes, Hoffman’s understanding and meeting the assignment will always hold a special place in my heart.
@jaythecakethief.bsky.social
Justin Harlan
I feel pretty vindicated choosing this film for a few reasons… first, it seems that everyone had a good time rewatching it. This makes me happy, because the world is burning down around us and we need some form of escape every now and then. Second, the final battle is a damn blast. Third, the cast is brilliant. And finally, because it gives me an exc use to talk about two of my absolute favorite actors ever.
The first of those two actors is the obvious one – the late, great Robin Williams. His death still gets to me sometimes, but when I see him on screen I can’t help but light up. His presence is so powerful and he’s incredible as Peter Pan(ning). There’s so much emotion in him in this role, from disdainful anger to pure joy and everything in between. Robin Williams is an icon and one that means alot to me as a film fan that came of age in the 90s. This is among the most iconic roles he portrayed in my youth, so I will always look at it fondly.
The second of those two actors is another late, great legend – Dame Maggie Smith. While the role that really made me want her to be my grandma was her incredible portrayal of Professor McGonagall, I really love her in this… as limited as her role is. I forgot that she was Wendy going into this rewatch and what a pleasant surprise it was. She embodies every role she is in and this is no different. She is magical when she’s on screen – and, particularly, the scenes between she and Williams are just pitch perfect for me.
So, in other words, this was a great rewatch for me. Bangarang!
March: Swashbuckling Adventure On and Off the High Seas
Our month of Swashbuckling continues all March, culminating in the two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel!
March 24 – The Court Jester (Digital Rental / Purchase – 1 hour 41 minutes)
March 31 – The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan (Hulu – 2 hrs 1 minute) / Milady (Hulu – 1 hour 55 minutes)
And We’re Out.
