Remembering "Hook"

Hook (1991) is a dearly loved movie from my childhood. I grew up watching Peter Pan cartoons on TV and the movie came as a real treat for me. I had no idea back then that Robin Williams (the wonderful actor who recently passed away) was playing Peter in the movie. When I saw Jumanji come up later, I screamed "Peter Pan!". Julia Roberts was Tinker Bell, again I wasn't familiar with her. When I saw The Runaway Bride come up I screamed "Tinkerbell!". And, after watching it again after years I have discovered that Granny Wendy in the movie is Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) from Harry Potter! Moreover ... it is a Steven Spielberg movie! OMG! The Jurassic Park guy. 

The story is not about the 10-year-old Peter Pan, young Wendy, Tinker Bell, and the Lost Boys adventuring around, fighting Captain James Hook - the Neverland villain pirate. Instead, it is about Peter Pan having grown up to be a career-oriented, money-making corporate lawyer, Peter Banning whose relationship with his family, especially his two young children Jack and Maggie, is strained. He is all about broken promises, obsessive phone calls by agents, and continuous absences from key events of his kids' lives.

This is the story of many households I believe where parents become hyper obsessed with work, social functions, and yadda yadda yadda.

The family flies to London to visit Moira's grandmother, Wendy Darling. Wendy helped Peter, and several other orphans like him find a family when he was young. I wish to be like Granny Wendy! I'd like to adopt kids someday and raise them.

Her family also has a literary history of having inspired a neighbor J.M. Barrie to write Peter Pan & Wendy. During their stay, Peter's children are kidnapped by Captain James Hook. Wendy reveals to Peter that he is in fact Peter Pan and that his old enemy has returned and taken his children for revenge, but he fails to remember anything and proceeds to stay up drinking in the upstairs bedroom.

Tinker Bell appears that night and flies a drunken, dazed Peter to the now-sprawling pirate port in Neverland. There, he awakens in disbelief, and reveals himself to Captain Hook and his second in command, Smee. Tinker Bell intervenes and is granted three days in which to prepare Peter for a war. The Lost Boys, now led by Peter's successor, Rufio (Dante Basco), at first dismiss him as an old man who has no hope of regaining his former glory, but he begins to learn the magic of Neverland. Meanwhile, Hook tries to turn Peter's own children against him in the hopes they will stay in Neverland permanently. He manages to turn Jack against Peter. Peter must now win back the trust of his children, and defeat Captain Hook!

Favorite Scenes
There is a dinner scene in the movie where Rufio and Peter engage in a hilarious verbal insults battle, followed by a food fight! I absolutely love these scenes!

There is also the funny one where Captain Hook is being very melodramatic and is committing fake suicide. Smee, his second man is seen gobbling up food from his plate and being confused about whether to stop the dramatic Captain or not!