ANIMATION, ADVENTURE, COMEDY

Peter Rabbit

CAST: James Corden, Domnhall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Margot Robbie

DIRECTION: Will Gluck

 

 

‘Peter Rabbit’ is the big screen adaptation of British author Beatrix Potter’s much-loved children’s book featuring the adven­tures of a naughty country rabbit and his family, whose adventures includes running havoc in the gar­den of their grumpy old neighbor. Potter’s first Peter Rabbit book hit the shelves in 1906 and has since gained tremendous popularity as a bedtime storybook. This modern retelling by director Will Gluck, who also co-wrote the screenplay, is a mixture of CGI ani­mation and live action. Throughout the movie, Gluck relies on a rather puerile display of violence to elicit humor. This backfires as the story doesn’t give us enough space to show affection towards its protag­onist, Peter Rabbit. His slapstick antics are far from hilarious and rather mark him as an annoying character.

 

The movie begins with Peter Rab­bit (voiced by James Corden), his three sisters—Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail—and his cousin Ben­jamin intruding on (and stealing from) the vegetable garden of old Mr. McGregor.

 

The cat-and-mouse game between Mr McGregor and Team Peter con­tinues until, one day, the old Mr. McGregor dies and his estate is transferred to his nephew Thomas McGregor (Domnhall Gleeson), a Londoner who intends to clean up the place and sell it. With that money he intends to open his own toy-store opposite the toy-store that fired him.

 

But when Thomas reaches his uncle’s house in the countryside, he discovers it’s in a sorry state. Unbe­knownst to him, after Mr. McGre­gor’s death, the place is being used by Peter and his friends for wild parties. Thomas makes it his mission to cheer the place up and keep it free from intruders, especially those devilish carrot munchers.

 

Not all humans are baddies in Peter’s eyes. Bea (Rose Byrne) is a cheery next-door-neighbor who is like a mother figure to Peter. She’s a struggling water-color painter and the rabbits regularly pose for her pieces. With Thomas waging war against Peter, the plot shifts gear when both Thomas and Peter start envying each other for Bea’s affec­tion. From then on, the movie nar­rows its focus to a ‘romantic rivalry’ between Thomas and Peter.

 

Adults or childen?

 

While watching the movie, I was curious: Who was this movie made for? It doesn’t play out like the typ­ical Pixar animated movies with themes that captivate both adults and kids.

 

Peter Rabbit reminded me more of the old Wiley E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons that churned out laughs by putting its characters in physical danger and blowing things up spectacularly. The makers whole­heartedly adhere to the principle that kids will laugh if the film is filled with Tom and Jerry clichés.

 

So we have people stepping on rakes and knocking their foreheads, and those accidently getting their foot caught on mousetraps. There’s also a sequence where a dynamite ambush is set up inside a rabbit hole. These tricks feel cheap and repetitive.

 

Peter Rabbit isn’t ambitious enough to give deep layers to its characters. The humans in the movie feel cartoonish and wacky, while the animated characters aren’t given enough scope to make us care about them. Thus their interplay only pro­vides few comedic moments. The rest of the film tries too hard to please the audience.

 

1 and a half stars.