First Take: Peter Rabbit- childhood very much in tact

SYNOPSIS:

A mischievous rabbit with an adventurous spirit lands in hot water when he tries to sneak into a mean-spirited farmers treasured vegetable garden.

One of the many cinema chums I work with described the bits she’d seen as being like my Film of the Year, Dunkirk, but with rabbits. I can assure you, this may be a PG but it ain’t that brutal or awards worthy. What we do have though is a decent adaptation and modernisation of Beatrix Potter’s immortal creation, and while this is from the studio who brought us 2017′s masterpiece horrific The Emoji Movie, it actually wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.

Will Gluck is in charge of this film, and sure, the pacing and general structure is all over the shop- but it is a lot better than his work on 2015′s adaptation of Annie, that can definitely be said. The script does need a bit more work, but Gluck and Rob Lieber have surprisingly managed to stay true to the original material while also bringing it up to date, but it is unfortunately super predictable. It’s also not that Americanised- it somehow manages to convey the charm of the Lake District very well, not least thanks to Peter Menzies’ cinematography (although there are a few locational errors here and there) alongside a very vibrant score from Dominic Lewis.

Cast wise, they’re pretty good. Rose Byrne puts in some good work, alongside the very versatile Domnhall Gleeson, but the voice cast is where the real magic lies. The divisive James Corden, the excellent Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley, Sia, and many others are able to make this film work and basically stops me from uttering the damning ‘I’m not dissapointed’ closing line- this surpassed what was arguably very low expectations. Sony Animation are partly forgiven after last year’s shameless advertising ploy, but they still have to do more to earn my respect.

THE VERDICT

It may not be the steaming mess we were expecting, but I warmed to Peter Rabbit. With a good amount of comedy for all ages, a basic plot and some decent performances, this is going to easily dominate an Easter season where all we can think about is how to keep the kids entertained for a few hours.

RATING: 3/5