Peter Rabbit (2018)

Peter Rabbit (2018)

6/10

Starring

Rose Byne

Domhnall Gleeson

James Corden (voice)

Daisy Ridley (voice)

Margot Robbie (voice)

Directed by Will Gluck

I must be honest—the movie had a way of keeping me entertained from the beginning, and the silliness is one thing that makes this movie suitable for the family. It has a lesson for the little ones: when pushing gets too much, it can destroy everything. This is a complete Home Alone-style rip-off. If John Hughes hadn’t passed away, I would have been sure he was behind the directing of this movie.

The whole excitement starts fifty minutes in, and the movie continues to give and give until you finally break out laughing out loud (well, that’s what happened to me). The movie has a cool musical score and, as you’d expect, an ending that’s all too cliché.

The movie’s plot adapts Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit from the 1901 publication, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. This is a modernized version of the book, and it starts with the introduction of Mr. McGregor, Bea, and the rabbits.

Mr. McGregor is an old man with a garden where he grows vegetables. The movie depicts him as someone who cares less about his health and more about his stomach, which leads to him dying at the beginning. Bea is the kind neighbor of McGregor, who has a maternal care nature for the animals, especially the rabbits.

The rabbits are led by Peter, who lives in a burrow with his cousin Benjamin and his triplet sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. They spend most of their days picking on Mr. McGregor and stealing vegetables from his garden.

After the death of Mr. McGregor (who has no other family except his nephew Thomas), his estate becomes the property of Thomas McGregor. Thomas lives in the city and is unaware of his uncle’s existence until he’s informed he’s inherited his uncle’s house. After his bad nature gets him fired from his job, he goes to his inheritance and begins working on selling it. Peter and his crew aren’t ready to have another McGregor make their lives difficult, as Thomas seems to be worse than his uncle. To add to their predicament, Thomas and Bea seem to have some form of attraction to each other.

Peter begins a battle with Thomas, which I have to say is the best part of the movie.

The movie has good CGI mixing, though the acting isn’t spectacular. The movie is a massive hit for Sony Animations, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re already planning a sequel, as it made more than four times its production cost.

A warning, though: there’s a part in the movie I wasn’t comfortable with. Peter Rabbit tries to kill Thomas. This scene puzzles me as to why the writers decided to include it. Peter attacks Thomas with blackberries, knowing full well he’s allergic. Other than that, and the depiction of animals attacking a human and vice versa, this movie is good.