Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit

Starring James Corden, Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Colin Moody

Directed by Will Gluck

The Story:
Peter Rabbit (James Corden) continually invades the garden of old man McGregor (Sam Neill) in order to steal food for his family, but also because McGregor killed and ate his father.  When McGregor suffers a heart attack and dies, Peter and his friends take over the garden and home as their own.

Then McGregor's young nephew, Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives to clean up the house and sell it, and falls in love with next door neighbor Bea (Rose Byrne), who's always been nice to the rabbits and who Peter considers to be a surrogate mother.  Thomas is extremely obsessive compulsive, wants everything in a neat and orderly way, and utterly detests rabbits.  So Peter, his cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody), and sisters Flopsy (Margot Robbie), Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki), and Cottontail (Daisy Ridley) set out to make Thomas's life a living nightmare, while he in turn sets out to destroy them as well.  This leads to a battle of wits and wills that threatens both human and rabbit as the pranks escalate, and motives become blurred.

The Synopsis:
In 2014, the Michael Bond classic children's novel series "Paddington" got a film adaptation that was met with critical and commercial success, garnering a sequel that's currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes - the best reviewed film of all time - thanks to director Paul King, who held the novel series with the utmost respect and care.  So when it came time to turn another beloved children's novel series to film, director Will Gluck turned to Beatrix Potter's cherished Peter Rabbit to give the big screen treatment to.  However, unlike King's delicate care of Paddington, Gluck decided to "remake" Peter to a character that today's audiences seemed to like - boisterous, egotistical, self-centered, bratty, and incapable of remorse.  The result is a warped view of a long-regarded children's classic that relied more on sight gags and being mean than telling a story with morals and ethics.

That's not to say the morals and ethics aren't in the film at all, they're found near the end when everyone realizes how insane they've gone, but by that time we as the audience have already turned on Peter and his harem of hoodlums and somehow sided with Thomas and his overbearing, obsessive compulsive disorders.  It's no small thing to make a character that was so revered and respected (and albeit mischievous, but never in a malicious way) and turn him into a caricature of bad behavior.  Oddly enough, even though Gluck wanted to make Peter more modern, he made Peter's antics reminiscent of classic television shows like "The Three Stooges" and "Looney Tunes," which makes for an odd hybrid of classic and modern.

The only connection "Peter Rabbit" has to "Paddington" is the excellent blend of CGI and real-life, as the rabbits and other woodland creatures are given the excellent computer treatment that make them nearly lifelike, and doesn't detract the viewer from thinking they're seeing computer generated images rather than talking rabbits on screen.  Each piece of fur is meticulously used, making it feel like you can reach out and pet them, so kudos to the developers who made that possible.

Another positive the film holds is with the human actors.  Domhnall Gleeson has been a very sought-after actor, appearing in epic films like "Star Wars," but also independent films like "Ex Machina" and "Goodbye Christopher Robin" (strangely another film about a children's classic).  Here, he plays Thomas, who is an extreme perfectionist and exhibits obsessive compulsive tendencies, and has to have everything perfect and in a perfect order.  This, of course, comes into conflict with Peter's laissez-faire attitude, pitting them against each other from the getgo.  Then there's Rose Byrne, who plays the loving Bea (a nod to Beatrix Potter herself), who loves the rabbits and views the animals as the rightful heirs of the land they live on, and fiercely protects them in every situation.

Then there's the voice actors, who give lively performances to non-living entities.  James Corden gives Peter a smartypants vibe, while Colin Moody gives cousin Benjamin a humorous look at his overweight problem.  Then there's the sisters, voiced by some of today's most talented women - Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, and Daisy Ridley - who tackle their roles with a blend of seriousness and humor that's endearing. 

Apart from that, the rest of the film is just a tired mess of one-upmanship between Thomas and Peter that begin innocently enough, but slowly gains more and more steam heading toward utter violence and contempt for life.  There's one scene in particular that's drawing a lot of ire from people involving Thomas's allergic reaction to blackberries.  Peter knows the allergy could kill him, and the rabbits throw blackberries at him, purposefully throwing one in his mouth, causing him to almost go into anaphylactic shock.  While the other antics were all in playful fun for the audience, an event like this could lead the target audience - children - to use allergies people have against them like Peter did.  Personally, I found it to be in bad taste for the film, and I don't know what impact it would have for younger minds myself, but I saw it as a needlessly mean and vindictive event that took the film to a darker level.

The film continued this dark path to the conclusion, when common sense finally prevails, but it doesn't take away from the escalating threats of violence the film insinuates.  Yes, some of the gags are humorous and slapstick, but there's an underlying sense of meanness to them that Potter never intended.  Then there's some gags that were funny at first, but then they repeated those gags throughout the film, and they just became tiresome and annoying.  Yes, the film is geared for children, but you have their parents who also have to sit through this film as well, and there's several examples of family-friendly films that both children and adults can enjoy on equal measure - this isn't one of them.

Obviously I'm not the target audience for a film like this, but other directors could turn a children's story of old and make it modern without diminishing the history of that character.  Peter Rabbit - and Beatrix Potter - deserved better than what was done.

The Summary:
While children might find "Peter Rabbit" funny, adults will continually groan at the tired antics of the rabbits, while wondering how hard Beatrix Potter is turning in her grave, knowing how much disservice this film gives to her brainchild.

The Score: D+