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Cube Critic: 'Pan'

  Play Now [4:31]

by Stephanie Curtis

October 09, 2015

Levi Miller, Rooney Mara, Hugh Jackman, Pan
A 12-year-old Peter (Levi Miller), with the help of the warrior Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), must defeat the pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) in 'Pan'.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Cube Critic Stephanie Curtis joins Lindsay Kimball (in for Jill Riley) and Sean McPherson to talk about a new film that is an invented origin story depicting the origins of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara and Levi Miller.

"This is a big, expensive retelling of the Peter Pan myth," Stephanie explains, but it may not have been money well spent.

"It's such a mess," Stephanie says.

The story begins in London during World War II. Peter is an orphan who is left on the doorstep of a convent but is eventually stolen by pirates and is whisked off to Neverland. "The special effects are incredible," Stephanie concedes. "It's beautiful looking. It's just a magical-seeming world, but it just never gets magical."

Jackman plays Blackbeard, a pirate who runs the mines on Neverland. "But he starts singing Nirvana," Stephanie says. "The movie makes no sense."

One's enjoyment of the film may be age-dependent, however. Stephanie says her nine-year-old daughter advised her to "Tell everyone it's awesome!"

But if you're a grown-up, Stephanie suggests, "Don't' put yourself through this thing."

Listen to the complete review by clicking the audio player above.

Pan is rated PG and is showing at theaters everywhere.

MPR's Cube Critics, Stephanie Curtis and Euan Kerr, join The Current's Morning Show to talk about films every Friday at 8:30 a.m.