To celebrate Pan’s premiere, the gardens in London’s Leicester Square were transformed into a breathtaking Neverland, complete with bright canopies, floral arches, colourful tents and masts and rigging from the deck of the Jolly Roger.
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As he strolled the red – in this case blue – carpet Jackman posed for photos with screaming fans. But at no point in the entire film is any character allowed to have any fun at all, which is a rather devastating flaw for a movie that’s supposed to be set in an eternal wonderland of play and arrested childhood innocence.
However, as Tiger Lilly is always cast as a native Indian, director Joe Wright defends his decision on choosing Rooney Mara to perform this character. “These ships moved, and it was insane “.
Greeted by a pirate chorus of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (they also sing the Ramones’ “Blitzkreig Bop”, and neither song makes any kind of sense in the film’s universe) the orphans are transported into Neverland. “It was just awesome”. But he said Pan was unique, because it relied less on computer-generated imagery. We are also going to be introduced to the acting talents of Levi Miller, who takes on the role of Peter.
“I knew it was going to be just eccentric enough”, Jackman says. “He’s a natural actor, and his heart and his warmth really is the centre of the movie, I think”.
The movie opens across Australian cinemas September 24.
Wright offers a number of solid action sequences along the way – one an airborne martial-arts routine on trampolines, another blatantly lifted from “Avatar” – and makes sure the narrative can accommodate cameos from some of Barrie’s greatest hits, including a humpback-sized crocodile and a school of mermaids (all played by Cara Delevingne with slightly different makeup). At the premiere the young actor admitted that he had thing for co-star Rooney Mara during filming. You’ve either got that or not and I don’t know exactly what that is, but the camera just loves him and you fall in love with him as an audience.
“I started crying when I got the call that I had the role – tears of joy, of course”.
Hugh: When I heard about idea of the prequel I thought “oh interesting but will it be just another version of Peter Pan dressed up”? “I fell off those beams so many times and then Joe chose to make the final fight sequence take place on the spikes on the front of the ship and that was more than a little hairy”.
“Children can relate to it on so many different levels”.
Pan tells the story of Peter, a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak who grows up in a bleak London orphanage.
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It portrays an orphan discover his true destiny after spirited away to the fantastic world of Neverland, and finally becomes a hero by saving Neverland from the ruthless pirates.
