This Peter Pan prequel starts with the boy as an orphan who’s whisked away by pirates in a flying ship to Neverland, where he encounters the major characters that make up the myth: Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), James Hook (Garrett Hedlund) and Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). We’ve become so enamored of dazzling special effects that the visuals here, even though beautifully designed, never capture the imagination. The continuous action is energetic, but not really exciting and the performances vary from weird (Jackman) to downright hammy (Hedlund). Dramatic director Joe Wright is literally out of his element with this big adventure. The most compelling moments are the early orphanage scenes. Otherwise, it’s launches like big-budget, but never realizes the flight of fantasy.

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