I watched this film over the weekend. Big "meh" for me.
Peter Pan is a tough story to pull off, the title character in particular. I agree with some of the others that even the 50s animated version missed some crucial aspects of the story, mainly Wendy deciding that it's time to leave childhood (and hence Peter Pan and Neverland) behind her. The difficult part is to show Wendy's choice as the correct decision while still leaving Peter as a generally fun and whimsical character. Peter can't be the villain.
Although I thought this film did Wendy better than previous attempts, except for some of the opening scenes, it largely lacked the fun and whimsy part. Neverland had far too much of a grim-dark appearance. Not the kind of place that could convince kids to never grow up.
In the initial scene where he shows up in the children's room, I thought the actor hit Peter Pan's essence. He has the kind of positive energy that attracts the other children, but is somewhat of a bratty kid who lacks emotional maturity. But then the rest of the script requires him to be morose, which just really doesn't work for the character or what the remainder of the plot requires.
For Tinkerbell, removing the jealousy subplot basically just turned her into a deus ex machina character.
I was disappointed in Jude Law as Captain Hook too. He seemed almost bored in the role.
One final nit-picking complaint. Turning the pilot's wheel of a ship turns the rudder, which adjusts the ships's heading, not the roll!
