NEVERLAND (2011): New SyFy Channel Peter Pan MiniSeries - NEW DVD UK

Intro:
Neverland, a prequel to author J.M. Barrie's classic, Peter Pan, sweeps in time from the turbulent seas of the pirates of the Caribbean and the back alleys of Dickensian London to a world of pure imagination.

The cast includes Rhys Ifans (Pirate Radio, Notting Hill) as James Hook, Oscar nominee Keira Knightley as the voice of Tinker Bell, Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies) as Captain Elizabeth Bonny, Oscar nominee Bob Hoskins as Smee (who previously played the character in Steven Spielberg's feature, Hook), Raoul Trujillo (Tin Man) and Charlie Rowe (Pirate Radio) as one of literature's most cherished characters, Peter Pan.

Peter (Rowe), along with his pals of young pickpockets, have been rounded up by their mentor Jimmy Hook (Ifans) to snatch a magical orb which transports them to another world - Neverland. Filled with white jungles and imposing cities formed out of trees created by Dr. Fludd (Dance) and inhabited by a colony of tree spirits led by Tinker Bell (Knightley), this mysterious realm welcomes unknown friends and enemies snatched from time. These include power-mad Elizabeth Bonny (Friel) and her band of 18th century pirates who search for the answer to eternal youth, a secret guarded by a Holy Man (Trujillo).

As the fight to save this strange and beautiful world escalates, Peter and his crew consider that growing old somewhere in time could be less important than growing up—right here in their new home called Neverland.
 

Description:
Neverland introduces us to a young lad named Peter and his streetwise gang, who are mysteriously transported from turn-of-the-century London into an enchanting parallel world where time stands still and an adventure awaits like nothing you've ever seen before. In Neverland, no one ever ages and lost souls have been plucked out of time. The lost boys are soon caught in a war with the man who will become Captain Hook and change the fate of this mystical land forever.
 

Review:
Affixing an origin story to a character best known for his unchanging nature is a risky proposition, but this tale of Peter Pan's preflight days justifies itself via some strong performances, particularly by Rhys Ifans as a morally thorny Captain Hook.

Originally produced as a two-part miniseries, writer-director Nick Willing's story starts off as a niftily cockeyed take on Oliver Twist, with a turn-of-the-century Peter (Charlie Rowe) being trained in the art of grifting by fatherly mentor James Hook.

After the theft of a mysterious orb strands the pair in Neverland, however, the two find themselves on different sides, especially with the introduction of a beautiful pirate queen (Anna Friel) with a serious thing for pixie dust.

Like many of the made-for-television sagas produced by Robert Halmi Sr. (Tin Man, Earthsea), Neverland's reach tends to exceed its grasp, with a second half marred by narrative compression and some jarringly low-grade CGI.

Viewers willing to overlook such budgetary bumps will still find much to enjoy here, including some vividly expressionist set design, the palpable chemistry between Ifans and Friel, and a stellar supporting cast featuring Charles Dance as a mysterious benefactor, The New World's Q'orianka Kilcher as a note-perfect Tiger Lily, and, in an especially nice touch, Bob Hoskins reprising his role as Smee from Steven Spielberg's Hook. Cue the tick-tocks, happy thoughts, and handclaps. --Andrew Wright