The year is 1991.
Pop culture is now completely submerged in the 90’s worldbuilding.
We’re in the years that are eventually going to bring the decade to a steamy boil
with Pogs
beanie babies,
this sound,
and this cup.
I could probably do an entire video about this jazzy chalice.
Maybe you were busy playing with your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Technodrome
or your Swamp Thing Swamp Trap
or your Ghostbusters Proton Pack that your mom never got you
and you're still waiting on after 30 years.
It's not too late mom!
The entertainment options of 1991 were...
...they were good.
Great movies, video games.
The Super NES had just released to compete with the Sega Genesis
which wasn’t even a competition because the SNES was absolutely the superior console.
Don’t “at” me, this was decided 30 years ago!
I don't want to hear it.
I realize I need to get to my main topic, but I’m setting the ambiance. OK?
I'm almost there. I promise.
There were some solid family movies in 1991
There were some other great films too
that you may have been lucky to see as a kid but probably weren’t allowed to.
But when I look back at 1991, nothing has a grip on my 90’s kid brain more than Hook
[Blues Traveler song Hook] Not that Hook. That’s still 3 years away
but is still an absolute banger(ang)!
Oooo!
I’m talking about the sequel to Peter Pan.
I’m talking about Steven Spielberg.
Robin Williams
Dustin Hoffman
A handheld Julia Roberts.
John Williams providing the vibes.
And, you know, the other memorable performances from A-List actors and celebrities
like Gwenyth Paltrow
Glenn Close
Phil Collins
George Lucas and Carrie Fisher
That's right! You didn't even know they were in it at the time, if you were a kid.
But they were there!
In terms of movie critics, Hook’s reception was lukewarm at best.
I wasn’t even aware of what movie critics were saying when I was a kid.
It was the 90's!
I wasn’t picking up a newspaper to see what Rotten Tomatoes says.
No. I had to form my own take, and my take was this:
Hook had sword fighting
flying sequences
food fights
the Lost Boys
skateboarding
and this...duel?
And, listen, if you were a kid in the 90’s, you probably didn’t realize it at the time,
but Hook was establishing a lot for our film, entertainment, and pop culture awareness of the time.
And for that reason, I want to take a look back at what I consider to be a pillar of 90’s kid adventure movies.
So take a seat, grab a drink, and let’s reminisce about the movie Hook.
The appeal, or “hook” of Hook
ugh!
bleh!
I'm not - no.
It’s Peter Pan in live action.
A character who flies around this sandbox that is Neverland all while never growing up.
Of course it is a little different this time. In Hook, Peter Pan IS grown up.
Which, looking back at that fact, that’s probably not the best story pitch - for a movie to appeal to kids.
What kid wants a grown Peter Pan? We want the Peter Pan we can relate to,
one that’s that's relatively our age that we can live vicariously through as he goes on adventures in this sort of fantasy land.
Not some old guy!
And that may have been a dealbreaker for some kids, but not for me. And here’s why:
He's Peter Pan, but he's your dad.
And I know that sounds lame.
But that’s kind of the point. What if your dad, and his dad belly
and his dad suspenders
and his dad cell phone
which I’m pretty sure my dad would still use today if sales associates like Alex would just let him live his life and leave him alone!
What if he all of a sudden remembered what it was like to not be a dad?
What if he learned to use a sword?
What if he could fly?
What if he didn’t wear glasses anymore?
What if Julia Roberts had a low-key crush on him?
What if he gained the respect of kids everywhere including this badass right here? Are you seeing this guy?
The whole premise of Hook blossomed from screenwriter James Hart’s kid, who was 6 at the time, asking him the question
"What if Peter Pan grew up?"
It was probably followed by some other question like “Why don’t babies have clothes on when they’re born?” or whatever dumb questions kids ask.
And look, maybe you don’t see this film from Peter Banning’s perspective
Maybe you see it from Jack's, or Maggie's.
Like, maybe you just spontaneously sing songs to deal with an absent father.
I’m going to be honest here, Jack annoyed the shit out of me even when I was a kid.
I'm looking at him like "Dude, your dad is Peter Pan - You'll see!"
Just be patient!
Stop. Throwing. The damn baseball on the plane! What the hell is wrong with you?!
At this point, you’re probably thinking “Someone needs to kidnap this kid!” Well…
I don’t want to bore you with every plot point of this movie.
You've probably seen it enough times to where you're watching a random dude on YouTube talking about the movie
But since we’re reminiscing together, I do want to go over some of the major beats from this film and mention a few moments that still stand out to me even to this day.
Back to Jack. Had this kid [chuckles]
Had this kid caused explosive decompression on this plane, that may have been a less terrifying experience
than being kidnapped by a’one Captain James Hook. Just saying.
That scene, man.
That latch that's turning - that hook-shaped latch that's turning
and John William’s score is straight fire of course.
Tootles is just burning the word "Hook" into your brain with his dead eyes and his giggling jowls.
HOOK!
Looking back at this moment as an adult now, no one really had any sense of urgency about these missing kids.
Even Inspector Phil Collins was like
[singing] "So take a look at me now."
No, he suggested it may be a prank. Do you remember what that house looked like?
“One does.”
It looked like a massacre took place and, while I’m sure Wendy is used to Tootles wrecking the house
because clearly, that guy knows how to throw a party
No. This was the work of a space pirate.
Anyway, so Peter returns to Neverland at this point, and - we're 35 minutes into this film! How did we have the patience as kids?!
I will say that we did know a little bit about endurance.
Imagine trying to play Fortnite, except you have to blow into a cartridge eight times
and slam it right on the edge of your gaming console
just right and then it would
Nevermind!
What I loved about The Lost Boys as a kid, and what I still appreciate to this day is
you’ve got these kids living their best life without parental guidance at all.
Sort of a Lord of the Flies situation.
and the film does a very good job of dropping you right into the middle of their world.
They have their own phrases and chants, and they sort of operate in unison with one another. It's all very rhythmic.
And of course it’s choreographed and written this way, but my point is that it just felt like a club.
I wanted to be a part of this club. I still want to be a part of this club I think.
And Peter is almost excluded from this blub until a young David Alan Grier see's Peter for what he really is:
Peter Pan.
"There you are Peter..."
So. Let’s. Go. Let’s... Pick ‘em Up!
Of course, there are other moments during the Pan montage that are happening.
You get a nice little suicide attempt from Hook, which he backs out of.
So, Peter whips into shape, and has a bit of a breakthrough
while he's in the middle of a heated roast session with a 14 year old, or however old Rufio is.
I don't know. He still looks 30 to me even after seeing this movie after all these years because of how much I watched it as a kid.
Peter wills a feast from his imagination which - Oh, it still looks incredible to this day.
That feast. I still think about that feast.
I could probably do an entire video dedicated to that spread.
It looks so good.
And you slice that coconut, and you are Pan!
Sure, he has to remember his whole life story, like when he was a young Jonas Brother watching Gwenyth Paltrow who turns into Maggie Smith.
And then there’s more sexual tension between Peter and Tinkerbell, which is
honestly a little confusing as a kid because Julia Roberts is good looking but she may be three inches tall.
But, ok, we have Peter Pan. He’s flying through the trees, he’s flying above the clouds, he’s flying above Neverland
which looks like a stock image that Steven Spielberg just uploaded into the film, but, OK. Alright.
Rufio hands Peter the sword, John Williams’ score is swelling, which makes the moment believable, cathartic.
After 1 hour and 40 minutes, Peter Pan is here. [laughs] He's here!
But before he can save his kids, Tinkerbell can’t contain her thirst any longer
and grows into full human size in order to fulfill her lifelong dream of
convincing someone into an extra marital affair.
Let’s be honest, Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins had more believable sexual tension than these two. It’s all very awkward.
One of the most out-of-place moments in the entire film, in my opinion.
But let’s just get into the final battle, which, there’s a lot. It’s a lot.
You’ve got adults fighting adults, kids fighting adults, toss in a little bit of Stockholm syndrome
and whatever this move was. I still don't even know - what was that?
But the let’s open the wound and share the trauma together.
You know what I’m talking about.
You can almost hear Hook's sort of ominous goading of...
"Rufio...Rufio..."
If you’ve heard the phrase “Looky Looky I got Hooky” and not taken pause to just bury that PTSD you're experiencing
then, I don't even... I don't even know if this video is for you. And that's ok!
This was a big fun brawl at first.
We had kids shooting reflective daylight into pirates' eyes
they were shooting eggs and marbles
then Hook just straight stabs a kid!
We're just all kids having a good time.
Like if you were a kid in the 90's, and you're just on the playground being silly
and you've got a paper fortune teller or cootie catcher or whatever you want to call it.
1, 2, 3, 4... Number 2? OK. “You smell.”
Then that one kid takes it too personally and stabs Rufio in the heart!
Hook gets what he deserves though when the stuffed corpse of the crocodile just sort of lands on him and I guess
I don’t know. I still don’t know what that was.
Lightly inhaling Hook? I don't know.
Peter gathers his two children together who now respect him because he went on a vision quest for three days and learned how to fly
and he leaves the Lost Boys in the capable hands of Thud Butt.
That’s right. That was his name - Thud Butt. Not ‘bowling-ball kid.’
You may not have even known that. It’s not like they ever said it in the movie. So, there you go.
Anyway, so Peter is ready to be a good dad, so it’s this happy moment where he reconnects with his children
and abandons these other children with no guardians to care for them.
But hey, that's fine, we're in Neverland.
It's a magical place where they can all just have fun. I mean, what could go wrong?
Anyway, so, everyone’s happy. Peter’s back at Wendy’s house. We sure what exactly happened.
I mean, do the kids remember anything? Why is Smee a groundskeeper?
What was this?!
I still don't know. Do you know? Because I don't know what this was.
Was this all just a dream?
Probably not because Tootles is now flying and the credits are rolling.
Doesn’t matter - dopamine rush! John Williams' score goin' on.
It really is a good movie [laughs]
Final thoughts:
Was Hook a flawless film? Absolutely not.
Was it unfairly judged as a product of its time? Yea, I think so.
Regardless of your age, or your generation, whether you're a 90’s kid, like me, or a beautiful, beautiful Boomer
With this film you have great performances
a director in the midst of his prime regardless of the clunky writing and pacing at times within this film.
You have what I believe is one of John Williams’ best scores.
And you have cell phone duel - let's not forget that.
But seriously, regardless of the regrets that Spielberg has stated that he has about this film
And regardless of the fact that Robin Williams, who is arguably in his prime as well
probably should have embraced some of the fun, childish performances that he had on display
much sooner than the third act of this film, especially considering its bloated run time.
There’s a reason people still bring up Hook and consider it a classic from their childhood.
There’s power in generational, nostalgic groupthink.
90’s kids, like me, are adults now
and films and television shows that were considered box office bombs or ratings disasters
by the generation that defined commercial and critical success at the time
are now being revisited, supported, celebrated.
It’s why Hocus Pocus is getting a sequel and Treasure Planet now considered an animated classic.
It's why Power Line is considered an iconic pop star.
...he is.
And of course, many 90’s kids are grown and have kids of their own now.
So, between our encouragement of future generations to check out these films,
along with this, sort of, fetishization of 90’s culture that's going on right now
it’s a recipe for, like it or not, reboots, remakes, and sequels that are happening decades after the original films.
Much like the premise of the film Hook, we’re now getting the answer to the question of
What if 90's kids grew up?
All of this is to say that Hook deserves to be a part of the conversation of nostalgia and appreciation for a decade that contains a lot of underappreciated films.
It certainly deserves its share of criticism,
but it is interesting to me that people are now discovering this film for the first time and enjoying it almost as much as I did nearly 30 years ago.
So, pop in this movie, or tap or click it, or however you watch movies these days
and revisit this film.
And if you’re like me, and you know every beat of this movie by heart, I just hope that you appreciate revisiting what I consider to be a 90’s classic.
If you like this review, if you like this take on sort of 90's film
Leave a comment! Let me know what you think and
give suggestions - maybe another film that you'd like me to cover that maybe we share a similar interest in.
If nothing else, thanks for watching!
"Goodnight, Neverland!"