Spielberg Celebration: The Nostalgia of ‘Hook’

In defence of a maligned childhood dream

(TriStar Pictures)

Looking back, I am surprised by how much Peter Pan figured in my childhood. He seemed to hover as a spectre, or a protecting guide. I had a few copies of the original novel, all of which brought me great joy, and of course there were the movies: Walt Disney’s animated classic, the 2005 classic (a film which launched a thousand childhood crushes), and an outlier from the first two. Rather than a straightforward adaptation, a sequel/expansion to the story. It had a certain quality that entranced me and several of its images have seldom left my mind. While certainly not one of the director’s top works, I do feel that this film has been maligned a little too harshly. So allow me to offer the defence to Steven Spielberg’s Hook.

A sequel to J. M. Barrie’s original novel, Hook follows a now grown-up Peter (Robin Williams), who has forgotten his magically extended childhood and married Moira (Caroline Goodall), the granddaughter of Wendy Darling (Maggie Smith). Peter, now a lawyer, is a workaholic with a troubled relationship with his wife and two children, Jack (Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (Amber Scott); but when his children are mysteriously abducted, he must revisit his past to rescue them from his old enemy, Captain James Hook (Dustin Hoffman).

Robin Williams as Peter, reunited with the Lost Boys (TriStar Pictures)

Released in December 1991, Hook received a mixed bag of critical reviews, and I will concede that the film is lesser Spielberg, not reaching the heights of his full ability. With a runtime of 142 minutes, it does feel decidedly over-long (particularly the imaginary food fight sequence, which bored me as a child). Spielberg himself was ultimately disappointed with the film as a whole, but it seems that his stance has softened somewhat with the passing years, stating in a 2011 interview: “I don’t like Hook very much, but my children love it. And there’s a whole generation of young people who really enjoyed the movie far more than what I put into it.”

Like others of that generation, Hook has a very special place in my heart. Despite what critics, and Spielberg himself, have said about its flaws, I just can’t help but love it. Call it nostalgia and I might be inclined to agree, but I can’t turn my back on the film.

When I think of Hook, I think of how big it all seemed: the extraordinary sets, the dreamlike fantasy, the world that felt so different from our own yet felt fully realised and lived in. To me it feels like one of the more grounded fantasy films of the time. Despite the pixie dust, the eternal childhood, and the mermaids, it feels like a world that you can step into, Barrie’s Neverland brought to full-blooded life.

The lavish production design of “Hook” (TriStar Pictures)

The texture and scale, the grimy and the sublime in equal measure, the carefully handled stylisation of its landscapes, it all feels remarkably grounded. Even the film’s most outspoken critics must surely acknowledge that on a visual level, it is a stunning film. When I envisioned as a child the Neverland of the book, it is the Neverland of Hook that came to mind.

Hook marked Spielberg’s eleventh collaboration with legendary composer John Williams. In many ways he seems a perfect fit for the director and you’re always in for a treat when his talents are involved. In Hook he presents us with a lush and majestic score, by turns whimsy and melancholic in a way that such a broad story deserves. Yet I think most of the quieter scene in which Peter remembers his mother, how he ended up in Neverland, and how Wendy grew up while he stayed the same.

Peter’s dream-like flashback (TriStar Pictures)

The extraordinary lighting, Robin Williams’ soft narration, and John Williams’ achingly beautiful score all work to create one of the most perfect scenes in any Peter Pan film. The underlying tragedy of Peter’s mother losing her child, his realisation of the reality of passing time, and the moment that he decides that it is finally time to grow up, all adds up to a tremendously impactful sequence, with Williams manipulating the viewer’s emotions as only a master composer can.

While Robin Williams is great as Peter, capturing the character’s progression as rediscovers his passion and strength, it really is Dustin Hoffman’s show. He simply steals the scene whenever he is on screen, stopping just short of physically chewing the scenery. Deliciously over-the-top and wicked, garbed in incredible costume and topped with a wig that deserves its own credit, he is the storybook Captain Hook come to life, amusing and frightening in equal measure. It is always enjoyable to see an actor fully throwing themselves into a character and having fun with it, and Hoffman relishes his time as the villainous pirate.

(TriStar Pictures)

It is interesting that before I had started this piece, and before our guide Simon Dillon commanded we write, Peter Pan had slowly started creeping back in, after years of absence. It started when, during some culling of unneeded clutter, I found a figurine of the character as seen in Disney’s animated production. Well, “as seen” is a bit generous. He looks fairly wonky but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of him. I no longer remember when or how he came into my possession but I felt that he needed to stay. So he returned to a drawer, to be inevitably found again in a few years’ time.

After this encounter, Peter Pan was on my mind and I remembered how wonderful of a story it really is, and how much I loved it. I wondered why it had slipped from my mind for the last few years. Now I believe that I left the story behind when the time came to drop childish things and focus on study, and I never picked most of them back up. But with some positive developments in my life, I feel more drawn to the things I used to love. I left Peter when I grew up, but found him again when I finally realised that growing up isn’t so serious of a thing, and it is what you do with your age that marks how “old” you really are.

Peter Pan is a remarkable story, one that J.M. Barrie wrote for children and for adults, in something of a spiritual way. He created a story that would welcome its readers back into its pages, reminding them of the excitement of childhood stories and the excitement that comes with the fantastic.

Hook to my mind is then a natural expansion on that quality. It takes that feeling of returning to childhood and places it on the central character of that concept itself, showing him rediscovering his vigour and in the process saving both his family and himself. It is comforting that this symbol of childhood can go through the difficult transition to adulthood and still break free from the jadedness that can often come with that change. That I think is the real charm of Hook. It is a story for everyone who grew up and forgot what it was like to be a child, but it encourages us to remember.

(TriStar Pictures)