Peter Pan
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
If you can get past the ick factor inherent in these suddenly adulterized relationships –- and there’s really no way this film should have received a kid-friendly PG rating –- and latch on to the film’s wealth of metaphor, you’ll surely have something to discuss over coffee post-screening. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Even at its most hyperactive, Peter Pan has a core of good and bad feeling that will hit home to kids and to adults with honest memories. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
All Peter Pan lacks is a Peter Pan with any discernible personality, no matter that Jeremy Sumpter is the first actual, genetic boy to play the role on film. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's gay in the old-fashioned sense, a giddy whirl for the senses, from chilly English drawing rooms to lush Neverland jungle. It's innocent in believing love banishes all ills, even physical ones, and inspires unthinkable heroism. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
It's a bad sign when you can't name or differentiate any of the Lost Boys. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
tT never grow up is unspeakably sad, and this is the first Peter Pan where Peter's final flight seems not like a victory but an escape. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
It's as if the movie itself has been sprinkled with fairy dust, and good thing, too: The world of Peter Pan is, at heart, so troublesome that it might as well also be enchanting. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Hogan's version brings out the story's somber side, showing how the mischief of unworldly characters like Peter and Tinkerbell can do real damage, and how refusing to grow up is an awful idea if you actually try it. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
The film provides solid entertainment for kids but lacks any real sense of wonder and magic. Read full review
60
EmpireChris Hewitt
Tonally the film is never more than the sum of its parts, while Sumpter, although physically perfect, just isn’t charismatic enough as Peter. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A bright, whirling pinwheel of a movie that tosses around special effects like confetti, but the techno magic is graced with a touch of sensuality. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
The movie belongs quite rightly to Wendy, the most enchanting little girl in English fiction, and to the untrained actress, Rachel Hurd-Wood, who plays her. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Though being magical is very much its intention, it never manages to cross the threshold that makes that happen in our hearts. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
As far as production values go, this Peter Pan is a work of art. So why, then, does the movie feel so crushingly dull? Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Both enchantingly old-fashioned and daringly modern. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Overall, though, this new Peter Pan does really soar. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
Though the story dawdles at times, the visuals are splendid. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Hogan whips up a high-energy family entertainment that fairly erases memory of the other filmed versions of Barrie's tale. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Unlike last year's disastrous "Pinocchio" with Roberto Benigni, this movie proves worth the time, effort, and money to get the whole family to a theater. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Despite a hint that Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) might get it on, there's nothing to crow about. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
A dazzling retelling of the J.M. Barrie tale, offers accomplished acting, splendid visuals, and in the role of the boy who won't grow up ... an actual boy. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Like the schoolkids in this adventure, from the opening images to the closing credits, I do, I do, I do believe in fairy tales. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
It's tacky and beautiful, sometimes both at the same time. Occasionally flatfooted even as it sparkles, the film suffers when Hogan lets the scenery do the directing for him, but he's chosen a cast capable of shouldering the film's weight. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Lush, loud and sparkling, and not nearly as innocent as you might imagine. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The film suffers from uneven acting, an over-reliance on production values and an uncertainty over how dangerous the children's adventures should be. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Mr. Hogan understands both themes, and his filmmaking style is a perfect mixture of wide-eyed wonder and slightly melancholy sophistication. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Simultaneously groundbreaking and remarkably faithful to the classic play. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Peter is as adequate as the Harry Potter movies are, though you never sense in either case that kids are being bitten with the permanent movie-loving bug. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Handsome, respectable and well cast, elaborate production lacks the excitement and magic that would elevate the film to beloved status, and sheer abundance of CGI work weighs on it too heavily. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Uniquely jacked into a ripe sense of antique-nursery Victoriana and buzzing with a pre-adolescent metaphoric charge, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan is a primary text of modern culture, and P.J. Hogan's live-action rendition is the only one, screen or stage, to completely uncage this changeling and give it flight. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Lavishly produced -- overproduced, actually -- and persistently unexciting.
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Imbued with a greater degree of psychological darkness than before. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Needs more than happy thoughts to get off the ground. Read full review
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