But there is no equally interesting or worthwhile question at the heart of "Pan." Instead, the question here appeared to be: what if we came up with a huge labored backstory for Peter Pan so we could make at least three movies out of it? I do not understand the world of this movie, and neither does director Joe Wright. You're dead in the water if your fantasy world doesn't feel real, and when you've got something as well-defined as Neverland, it seems hard to screw up. That makes it even more impressive to see how much they miss the mark here. It starts with the first moment where they arrive in Neverland, when the flying pirate ship that abducted Peter (Levi Miller) flies him and the other boys to the fairy crystal mines where there are hundreds of orphans from around the world, all pressed into service by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). The scene is done as a musical number, with all the extras singing the song together. Now, keep in mind, the film takes place during WWII. That is carefully established in elaborate scenes at the start of the film. The song that the entire small army of extras sings together is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and the scene builds and builds as Blackbeard is introduced for the first time, and by the time he joins the chant, "Here we are now, entertain us," he does Russian kicks and hypes up the crowd even more. That is a real thing that happens in the film. A few scenes later, there's a few bars of another musical number, this time set to "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones.
AND THEN NO ONE EVER SINGS AGAIN, AND THERE IS NO MENTION OF THE SINGING, AND THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR THE MODERN SONGS IN A WWII FILM THAT ISN'T, BY ANY OTHER STANDARDS, A MUSICAL.
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http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captur...ith-a-wrong-headed-script#TBrsOLDYlS4wviWb.99
