Underrated Movies: Hook

I felt compelled to write about this after watching Peter Pan and Wendy, which is a movie that came out on Disney+ recently. The comments/reviews on it seemed positive so I gave it a go on a boring Saturday morning. I mean, sure, it was a good movie, but it wasn't innovative. Peter Pan has been done 100 times and the story is pretty old at this point. There wasn't anything new or different about this one. However, some of the lines reminded me greatly of the movie Hook. And maybe that was because they were taken from the book; I don't know, because I have never read it. But it had me reminiscing about that movie and how great it was.

Hook was amazingly underrated in my opinion. Has it aged well? I'd say so; as a lot of Steven Spielberg movies tend to do (ie: Jurassic Park) thanks to extravagant and well built sets. The music, done up by the one and only John Williams, will never get old to me. There could not have been a better Hook than Dustin Hoffman - I compare all others to him. 

And Robin.

I thought briefly that it would be great to be able to remake this movie with more modern stuff, but Robin Williams can never be replaced. I grew up on Robin Williams movies, and his kind will never be found again. He was truly a one of a kind, amazing man, and perfect for the role of a child who never wanted to grow up.

The premise of this movie was very unique. About a man named Peter Banning, who is a grumpy, stuffy lawyer with no sense of humor or fun in his life. His two children get kidnapped, and it turns out it was Captain Hook who stole his kids and took them to Neverland in order to lure Peter back to his childhood home, where he had completely forgotten that he was actually Peter Pan. With the help of the Lost Boys, he begins to remember his past and how to fly and fight so that he can save his children from Hook. A fresh take on a childhood classic for sure.

The movie is not perfect. I do say that anytime Tinkerbell is portrayed as a jealous bitch who wants to kill Wendy is completely idiotic, (and I did appreciate that Peter Pan and Wendy did not go this route), and luckily Hook didn't go crazy here, but this Tinkerbell (played by Julia Roberts, whom I think was badly cast for this role) was completely strange and took away from the movie. Her love for Peter was kind of creepy to be honest.

The movie had a lot of slow parts. Hook trying to convince Peter's kids that he was a better father than Peter and trying to teach them how to be good pirates was kind of a stretch but interesting if not a tad boring. Jack switching sides was fun, and him teaching Hook and crew how to play baseball was really entertaining to watch.

One can never forget the scene where it finally clicks for Peter how to feel young at heart again, and is able to insult Rufio like only an unscripted Robin Williams can.

There are a few good lines, including one scene between Hook and Smee:

“- Smee: I've just had an apostrophe.
- Captain Hook: I think you mean an epiphany.
- Smee: Lightning has just struck my brain.
- Captain Hook: Well, that must hurt.”

But overall, I think this movie is very enjoyable and unique enough to keep you engaged. There are only so many movies in my life that I watch multiple times, and Hook is one of the rare few. If you've never seen it I would highly recommend it. Sometimes it's difficult to get into movies meant for children, but if you don't mind it, it's a good watch for sure.