Peter Rabbit

PETER RABBIT (PG)

D: Will Gluck

Sony/Columbia/Olive Bridge/Animal Logic/Screen Australia (Will Gluck & Zareh Nalbandian)

US/Australia 2018

95 mins

Comedy

W: Rob Lieber & Will Gluck [based on characters created by Beatrix Potter]

DP: Peter Menzies, Jr.

Ed: Christian Gazal

Mus: Dominic Lewis

Domhnall Gleeson (Thomas McGregor / voice of Jeremy Fisher), Rose Byrne (Bea / voice of Jemima Puddleduck), Sam Neill (Mr. McGregor / voice of Tommy Brock)

voices of: James Corden (Peter), Daisy Ridley (Cottontail), Margot Robbie (Flopsy)

With the success of Paddington still fresh in the minds of studio executives, they thought it best to strike when the iron is hot and cashed in on Beatrix Potter's much cherished animal characters, seemingly perfect to market for the 2018 Easter holidays.

Unfortunately, the only thing this movie has in common with the original source are the names of the animals, everything else is just juvenile slapstick and lazy writing.

Voiced by the immediately irritating and ridiculously miscast James Corden, Peter Rabbit is an unruly bunny who constantly steals vegetables from the garden of the elderly Mr. McGregor, despite the warnings of his family.

When the old man dies, his young fastidious nephew, Thomas, moves in and is immediately greeted by a mess left by the pesky rabbit and his farmyard friends, starting a war between man and bunny which sees peacetime when pretty neighbour Bea becomes Thomas' love interest.

Everything about this film is a cash grab, doing away with everything beloved about Beatrix Potter's story for something that'll entertain young children, which it will, but it will leave many adults feeling shortchanged. 

Personally, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if James Corden's smug, obnoxious voice was replaced with myxomatosis.

4/10