Wendy (2020)

From director Benh Zeitlin, of Beasts of the Southern Wild, is one of the most intense and beautifully crafted versions of Peter Pan you'll see. Most adaptations go for the broad stroke version of Pan, the basic story of a boy never growing up, pirates and mermaids, and imagination. Wendy gets down to the raw, emotional core of the Peter Pan mythos, creating a dark, even scary, but incredibly heartfelt interpretation. From wanting to feel young again, to losing hope, to living life, it goes into the deep heavy themes with such full forward momentum, that you're just there watching captivated the entire time. Incredible cinematography, wonderful music and visuals to match, wonderful acting from adults, and especially from the kids, come together to form a beautiful painting of emotions. It has the best scenery and locations of any adaptation of Peter Pan I've seen, and it's all real places that live and breathe a fantasy picture. It goes for the heavy stuff right away and it doesn't stop for anything. It might go on for too long, and you might be confused by its symbolism and interpretation, but in the end it gets you by the heartstrings. Like looking at a piece of art in a museum, it's all there on the canvas waiting for you to appreciate it.

Fmovies: A complete re-imaginig of the Peter Pan story, completely devoid of any of the original stories'charm. Poor acting and slow, ponderous pacing made me switch this off after a laborious 30 minutes so I can't comment about the rest of the film. It was just too depressing and boring to continue watching. Even the kids gave up long before the end !

IN A NUTSHELL: This beautiful film has rich detail and emotion as a re-imagining of the timeless tale of Peter Pan and his relationship with Wendy. Directed by Benh Zeitlin, the movie feels real and charming at the same time. While the film is mesmerizing to look at, the story is a bit messy and even boring at times. It is both sad and hopeful as it reminds to look for the magic in our lives. The theme of the movie is growing up and, ironically, it took 7 years to make the movie.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Some profanity uttered by kids. As a parent, you'll want to talk to your kids about NOT just taking off on an adventure without you! A boy gets his hand chopped off and you see some blood and a stump. Ick. Talk of farts (of course, since there are kids in the movie). Some kids (and adults) will be bored. There is a lot of talk about mothers. If you're a mom, use this opportunity to remind your kids how much you love them.

THEMES: The joy of childhood and the pain of growing up Time Making your dreams come true As long as you retain your sense of wonder, you will never grow up. Losing yourself "You can't lose hope. That's what's making you old." - Wendy (Devin France) "You have to use your imagination." - Wendy (Devin France) Life is an adventure. There is magic everywhere.

THINGS I LIKED: The movie was filmed in Montserrat, an island south of Antigua. They had a terrible volcanic eruption there in recent years, so the majority of the people who lived there left. I heard that the shooting location was actually quite dangerous, so only essential crew were allowed to go there. Because there wasn't any electric power for large lighting set-ups, 16mm film was used. The child actors offer fresh faces to Hollywood and were all totally adorable. The director had to teach them how to act and even how to swim. The metaphor of a train is perfect to illustrate the ride we take on our lives from childhood to adulthood. The strange sounds throughout the film made you feel like you really were in some adventureland. I would have loved to hang out in that Neverland when I was a kid. Well, probably for just a couple of days. There is a creative, new take on Captain Hook and the pirates.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: As a mother, I was worried about these child actors in dangerous situations the entire time! I also really wanted to give those kids a bath. ha ha A lot of scenes are super dark at nighttime, which will make it hard to see what's going on if you watch this on small monitors and devices once the movie goes to streaming. There's definitely a Lord of the Flies element to this telling.

INTERESTING LINES: "The more you grow up, the less things you get to do that you wanna." - boy "What's your stop?" - kid "This is an adventure. There are no stops!" - kid "Never slow down." - Wendy "When sad thoughts come to your mind, let them whiz out the other ear and be gone." - Wendy "The only reason you know you're old is cuz no one will talk to you no more." - Buzzo "A mother will always come for her children." - James (Gavin Naquin) "When you're a child, they don't tell you everyone you love can disappear and you'll never get them back. Take care of your tribe." - Wendy

You can watch the rest of my review on my Movie Review Mom channel on YouTube!

Wendy fmovies. In my opinion it's gives fresh (good) look to the story. The visual and music combination make your arms chill. I don't know if it's only me as othere reviews are quite harsh, but i enjoyed every minute of this masterpiece.

Great story telling and acting from the Wendy character..but other than that the movie was boring and really over stretched and most times movies like this keep you glued hoping for a turn around but it didn't ..I doubt it would appeal to any audience but that's coming from someone who tried and got to an hour of this because I really wanted it to work but it was sort of exhausting, I'm not a fan of camera close UPS on actors in scenes of movies, I like to see the scenery, reactions, conversations which lacked and stressed me alot watching this..so it was a no for me!

One of my favorite movies I've ever seen. Gorgeous, visually stunning, experimental, different, so strange and beautiful.

Sparse dialogue, incredible score, and the backdrops and cinematography were absolutely jaw-dropping for me. It felt like reading a breathtaking poem and brought me back to the days when I was young and had the wildest imagination.

I can see why it may not be a film for everyone, it doesn't fit together like your typical movie, but I was completely enthralled.