‘Peter Rabbit’ review: Classic family fun
In ‘Peter Rabbit’, Beatrix Potter’s stories find new wind as James Corden brings his cheekiness to the furry bunny
It’s only taken a little more than a century for Peter Rabbit to make the leap from the pages of Beatrix Potter’s lovingly illustrated children’s story books to the big screen, but you could almost say the wait’s been worth it.
For one, it’s extremely funny. Director Will Gluck (Annie, Easy A) employs every trick in his bag to make sure you’re laughing out loud every other minute. And two, it takes what can only be described as pure courage to make a well-known story all-together new. And three, the animation is flawless: The folks at Animal Logic have painstakingly married CGI and live action to make the difference between the two impossible to spot.
The movie makes it known, quite early on in its run time, that this isn’t your grandparents’ Peter Rabbit, as it unceremoniously and with unnerving calm kills off said canon nemesis McGregor (Sam Neill), as he tries to take back his veggie patch from the furry critter and his furry friends. If you’re taking young kids along, you might be facing an evening full of questions about this particular scene. You’ve been warned.
The story checks in on Peter Rabbit (James Corden), now as a slightly more grown-up but equally reckless teenager, who along with his tween sisters Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki), Flopsy (Margot Robbie) and Cotton Tail (Daisy Ridley), and cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody), wants to take back the garden where his now deceased parents used to live, from evil Mr McGregor, a cranky old man who fiercely protects his vegetable patch.
But to update the story and bring it to the modern world, instead of old McGregor, we get new tenant Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) – the nephew, who is an uptight city boy, recently fired from Harrods toy department. (There are still no cell phones or computers in this contemporary setting, but you know it’s new because the cute sparrows are singing along to Vampire Weekend.)
The makers throw in a rom-com angle to distract the adults who might be dreading another children’s movie. And hence we get Bea (Rose Byrne): McGregor’s genial next-door neighbour. In her free time she makes uncanny naturalistic portraits of her rabbit friends, in a beautifully subtle nod to Beatrix herself.
Thomas and Bea meet, and because he doesn’t want to scare his new lady friend away, he pretends to get along with the bunnies, who are also in no mood to tolerate another animal-hater in their neighbourhood. Pointy rakes, pots and pans, electric shocks, and even explosives are deployed by both parties, and some of the set-pieces are so lovingly created, you forget the extreme violence and just go with the flow.
Gleeson is an absolute delight. Marrying the physical comedy of Charlie Chaplin to the absurd antics and violence of the Home Alone movies, the new Star Wars recruit also channels some of his General Hux menace into his scenes with his furry nemesis. Corden does Corden and brings his own flavour of adorable cheekiness to the role. Byrne’s Bea could have used some depth. But the chemistry between the two lovers simmers just right to keep you invested in the story.
And while the movie is a far cry from Potter’s tea-and-crumpets story that you or your parents or your grandparents may be familiar with, it updates the story for today’s world without entirely destroying its soul. And that’s something.