You might have already heard about Pan from the criticism of the casting of Rooney Mara, a very white woman, in the role of Indian princess Tiger Lily. So, that's one issue. There are more.
The latest unasked-for spin on a classic, Pan attempts to tell the story of Peter's life before the story we all know. It starts with baby Peter getting ditched at a London orphanage by his mom; 12 years later, during the Blitz, he and several other young orphans are stolen in the night by some scary-as-fuck pirates on bungee cords hanging off a floating ship. That Peter never stops and says, "WAIT. WHAT?" at the moment his sad, boring life becomes magical and terrifying is the first of many moments that made me go, "WAIT. WHAT?"
Peter and the other innocent little boys are promptly forced into slavery by the pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) in Neverland, a place of danger and desperation nothing like the one we're used to. (All the slaves sing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," because why not piss on another thing you cherished?)
