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Show Arts & Entertainment Prepare To Be by Dill Kilpack Forum editor Hook, Steven Spielbergs story of a Peter Pan returning to Never grown-u- p Never Land, is exactly what it should be an escape to childhood for anyone who walks through the doors. If you've read Peter Pan, seen the Disney cartoon, or are simply a Peter Pan scholar, you wont be disappointed by this film. Before seeing Hook, I expected the let down that usually accompanies the films actors. made up of collections of big-naIm glad this is not the case. Ive been partial to the story of Peter Pan ever since I was a kid, and worried that it wouldnt be done well on screen. The masterful work in Hook has more than laid my doubts to rest I was skeptical that Dustin Hoffman was a good choice for Capt. James Hook, and was disappointed that the job hadnt been given to Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mermaids), who I thought would be perfect for the part. After the first scene d with the nefarious pirate, I hook-hande- Film "Hooked At Spielberg's latest Adventure changed my mind. Hoffman will never cease to amaze me. He can do anything. He plays everything from a hungry newspaper reporter in All the Presidents Men, to a man masquerading as a woman in Tootsie, and now this. Hoffman is the perfect Capt. Hook. He looks and acts exactly how I would imagine the pirate if he were real. Hoskins is Hooks first mate, and supplies much of the comic relief on the pirate ship, leaving the rest to Hoffman. Theyre an excellent combination. Julia Roberts as Tinkerbell is another wonderful casting job. From the moment she comes on the screen, she embodies everything the classic fairy should be. Shes feisty, passionate and girlishly giddy. Her lines are as good as can be for such a caricatured character, and she delivers Tinkthem j ust like I d imagined a real-lif- e erbell would, right up to where she becomes big and tells Peter she loves him: I'm feeling something bigger than Ive ever felt before, and Ive never been big enough to feel it before. Last, but certainly not least, is Robin Williams as Peter Pan. When I first saw previews for Hook, I knew only one thing: Williams was the right choice for Peter. I wasnt disappointed. His struggles to remember his old ways and win back his happy thoughts are vintage Williams comedy. His antics with the Lost Boys, and the lawyer who gradual shift from a pirate-lik- e cant remember his past in Never Never Pan supplies laughs, Land to pointed-eare- d making the films tender moments hit even more closely to where you live. Hook, though taken from the childs story of the boy who will never grow up, is not all fun and games. It carries a very stirring message of the importance of family and friendship (a familiar theme from Spielbergs E.T.) that jerks tears in several points throughout the movie. From the opening stages, where Peter is a father so obsessed with his business that he neglects his children, to his reunion with Wendy (his love from the original Peter Pan story) who he remembers only as Granny Wendy, to Hook abducting his children to lure him back to Never Never Land the film cranks on the heart strings. The question posed in the previews was: What if Peter Pan grew up? A lot of times, that type of what if question cant be pulled off well on the screen, butHook more than does the job. The costumes are taken right out of the pages of the story books. The plot twists are a clever mesh of real-lif- e dilemfairy tale and modem-damas, such as the problems of parenthood and especially being a child. y, Never Never Land is wonderfully reprecolorful sented, in all its fantasy-filled, grandness. The mermaids, the huge tree on a spire of rock where the Lost Boys live (right over the port where Capt. Hook keeps his pirate ship). Never Never Land (the second star to the right) is the perfect fantasy world. Take thecolorful pastels of MunchkinLand in The Wizard of Oz, the grand scale of Gotham City in Batman and the picturesque scenery of the lands in Willow and youve got the beautiful wonder of Never Never Land as captured in Hook. A lot of films lately arent worth $5.50. Hook is worth more than that. After all, whats $5 when you can go to the place between dreaming and waking up? Top Row: (L to R) Lynetto Rundell, staff writer; Shelly Parsons, business manager; Carrie Stults, staff writer; Nancy Bennett, staff writer; Bill Kiipack, editor; Kirsten Heeter' Heaton, production manager; Mari Herold, staff writer. Bottom Row: (L to R) Fred Thaller, staff writer; Uz Peterson, copy editor; Matt Thurm' Kellogg, staff writer; Chris 'Clarke Kent Thomas, staff writer. Page 10Forum |