Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is a middle-aged lawyer who is married more to his phone than to his family. He loves them dearly, but rarely finds the time he needs to spend with them. He misses games and he misses plays, he misses all of the important moments in their lives. It’s not until the night his children disappear from their beds that he realizes just how unimportant his work really is as opposed to how much they mean to him. And he sets off to find them. What Peter doesn’t realize, or more so, remember is that he has a secret. The only one who knows his secret is Granny Wendy (Maggie Smith). Peter didn’t have a normal childhood, oh no. As a matter of fact, he would have had an eternal childhood had he not given it up for the love of Wendy’s granddaughter. You see, Peter’s real last name is… Pan. “Hook” was Steven Spielberg’s attempt to take the tale of the great Peter Pan into a new direction.

He is now a grown-up, living a semi-normal life, with no recollection of his past. He travels back to Never Land in search of his children, who are in the clutches of the evil Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman).

I remember when I saw “Hook” when it was first released in 1991. I was thrilled at the thought of Spielberg directing it, and even more so Robin Williams starring as Peter Pan. I mean, who else could possibly pull it off? In spite of all the anticipation, when I finally saw it, I had strong mixed feelings. “Hook” ended up being one of those movies where the sum just wasn’t as good as its parts.

The good? Every single scene between Williams and Smith is priceless beyond words. Knowing that Smith is THE Wendy Darling and realizing how much she loved him as a young girl is just heartbreaking. And the scene where Peter finally remembers his past and takes to the sky still makes me cry like a little kid with its emotional impact. Only Williams could wear the green tights and get away with it. Then there’s Dustin Hoffman as Hook. He completely devours the role, and you can tell he’s enjoying every scene-stealing moment of it.

The bad? Most of the scenes with The Lost Boys are just hideous. The first main sequence where they are riding their skateboards and such on tracks all over their playground just didn’t work for me. Granted, this is certainly what the Boys would be doing, being boys. However there was just something about the flow of that scene that, despite the forced ‘excitement’, bogged the film down. Later, during many of the big pirate fight scenes, the same thing happened. I don’t know whether to pin it on the editing, or using the wrong music, or what, but the fight scenes came across as flat and uninteresting,

Despite its few flaws, “Hook” is still a really good film; I’ve just always felt it could have been better. I actually started feeling some of the same excitement I felt twelve years ago when I heard the Sony/Columbia Tristar was releasing the film in a Superbit DVD version. I hadn’t seen it in years and had wanted to revisit it to see if my opinion would be different. After watching it, I still stand by my original assessment.

Visually, “Hook” is gorgeous and this DVD version actually does justice to the huge sets, both elegant and garish. The image is crystal clear and looks awesome on a big screen. The sound is even better than I imagined it would be, and with the right system fills the room.

I still like “Hook” enough to recommend it, and maybe if you’re prepared for the ‘not-so-good’ parts, maybe they won’t turn you off enough to keep you from enjoying the truly magical moments.

By the way, keep an eye out for an unusual cameo by Glenn Close. If you don’t already know where to find her, I dare you to pick her out!

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith
Extras: None
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 9/9/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG
Website 1
Website 2

We'll give Hook a C+.