Peter Rabbit, 2018.
Directed by Will Gluck.
Starring James Corden, Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Sia, Colin Moody, and Sam Neill.
SYNOPSIS:
Feature adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale of a rebellious rabbit trying to sneak into a farmer’s vegetable garden.
Based on Beatrix Potter’s classic children’s tales, Peter Rabbit is a curious combination of tried and true British humor and the standard components that make up most younger geared American animated talking animal features. Since director Will Gluck (Easy A, Annie) is tasked with blending live-action characters and CGI critters capable of doing anything from verbal communication to detonating explosives, it’s a wise decision that pays off to include a variety of comedic styles; adults will assuredly chuckle here and there at the witty banter between humans (again, it is unmistakably British) while children will consistently find entertainment in the more lowbrow gags involving rabbits setting up home invasion style traps or a sizable range of woodland animals cracking jokes.
In the beginning, the direction from Will Gluck struggles to work any cohesion into the conflicting tones; an elderly man (Sam Neill) has a heart attack from trying to murder the vegetable patch raiders which is met with rejoice and happiness from the adorable critters, specifically the rabbits, most definitely sending an odd message to kids watching the movie that grumpy old curmudgeons don’t deserve to be mourned because once upon a time they murdered some rabbits and stuffed them into some pie. This is after Peter conducts a juvenile visual prank that sees him jamming a carrot into the plumber’s crack of the man. As you can probably tell, it’s kind of a mess to the point where one would assume the stage has been set for a nightmare of a children’s flick, but Peter Rabbit is successfully able to find a groove playing up the hijinks between the animals, Domhnall Gleeson’s Mr. McGregor (the nephew of the now deceased old man inheriting the large countryside home), and their blood rivalry duking it out over the affection of Bea (Rose Byrne), a struggling painter with a kindred love for wildlife.
Look, none of it is exactly highbrow material (there is a reoccurring line from a rooster in disbelief that the sun rose again at the crack of dawn, a pig declaring that he is finally starting his new diet only to immediately grab the nearest piece of food in sight, and because there can never be animated animals without a sing-along number, a remixed version of Fort Minor’s Remember the Name now with lyrics about carrots and other such rabbit related nonsense), but when war officially begins between Peter’s crew and McGregor, the slapstick shenanigans are enough to propel this one into watchable territory. Domhnall Gleeson deserves quite a bit of credit for really throwing himself into the physical side of things, which is made all the more impressive considering he’s wrestling with invisible bunnies.
On a related note, Sony Pictures Animation is a bit all over the place with this one in terms of digitally rendered effects; the rabbits are all very detailed from their floppy ears to their cottontails, with the movie goes as far getting tricky by implementing rain on top of that technical wizardry. In addition to that, the aforementioned physical interactions between CGI and humans are all serviceable. It certainly isn’t Paddington level, but it’s also a step up from the distributor’s recent features. With that said, pretty much all of the other animals ranging from foxes to birds were not given the same level of detailed treatment. Other uses of special-effects such as minor dynamite explosions also look cheap in comparison to everything else. Thankfully, at least the countryside atmosphere is wonderfully created to mimic the drawings in the stories; mostly the entire film takes place there until the narrative just has the bring the animals to the big city, like every movie containing talking animals in existence.
If Peter Rabbit wasn’t already weird enough, the storytelling, mainly with the narration, even has a self-aware meta factor to it; Margot Robbie’s voiceover pokes fun at how cliché and predictable the whole experience is, which is something that adults might get a kick out of far more than children, and different bunnies openly analyze their own character flaws. Normally, it would come across as a film trying too hard to be in on a joke with the audience, but keeping in mind that most of the viewers will be children, it’s actually an intelligent decision that might even provoke kids to further assess individual characters not just in Peter Rabbit, but within all the media they consume.
It’s also worth mentioning that Peter Rabbit has attracted a loaded cast of star-studded names including Domhnall Gleeson, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, and James Corden as the titular bunny. Admittedly, Corden seems to be putting on the same voice he does for everything, but it’s fine enough. Also, I would have loved to mention Rose Byrne, but she’s really just an object in the dangerous games waged between man and animal; for someone that loves rabbits and other woodland critters so much she sure is missing in action whenever chaos erupts. As the only one completely unaware of just how sentient and intelligent the animals are, she also has the least amount of fun and solely exists to fall for McGregor during hallmark dating sequences utilizing mainstream pop music as the rodents look on frustrated and upset, ready to raise the stakes in the battle.
Peter Rabbit obviously makes sacrifices to appeal more to younger audiences, which is disappointing because, in an age where veganism and growing concern for the well-being of all animals are quickly on the rise in terms of importance, the script could have definitely made a stronger statement regarding the fact that all animals also have feelings. As someone who isn’t that invested in the movement and still eats meat, it’s still just an obvious parallel within the context of the story that the writers should have worked towards illuminating in a creative way, similar to how Paddington alludes to immigration. Nevertheless, Peter Rabbit could have been a lot worse; as it stands it’s decent real-life/cartoon hybrid fun for the whole family with a talented cast clearly enjoying themselves.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, friend me on Facebook, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, check out my personal non-Flickering Myth affiliated Patreon, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
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Originally published February 4, 2018. Updated April 11, 2018.
