Wendy Review Movie
Wendy Review
The year 2013 was the one when Benh Zeitlin appeared out from the bushes with an amazing debut film, Beasts Of The Southern Wild which brought him an Best Director Oscar nomination -and an award for his non-professional child actor Quvenzhane Wallis. It took Zeitlin 7 years before he could make this slo-fi, magical-realist masterpiece and his much-anticipated sequel may be disappointing being yet another filmic interpretation from Peter Pan.
The last time we saw Come Away was barely seen and Joe Wright's Pan was a complete failure and a lot of the elements from J.M. Barrie's work remain difficult to understand. However, Zeitlin writing along with sister Eliza and his sister Eliza, has a tendency to abandon the source material, pulling out a few of the most important story lines as well as weaving them together into something more modern and personal.
Its celebration of messy, outdoors play, and prepubescent ferocity gives an ounce of Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are.
It's not surprising, given its non-professional cast and purely real-world settings, Wendy feels closer to Beasts than Pan and the film's celebration of dirty wild play as well as prepubescent passion offers the same fervor as Spike Jonze's The Wild Things Are. It also has a distinct Herzogian ambiance to the film. It is both naturalistic as well as nature-loving. In the background of Neverland will be one of the West Indian island of Montserrat which is where the majority of the action shot handheld is played out within the shadows of frighteningly active volcanic Soufriere Hills. This creates Wendy as well as The Lost Boys' antics visually attractive and distinct however, it is also gives them an acute risk of being in jeopardy. There's no gang of children who are bouncing around without consequences on a soundstage that is obvious; those forests, cliffs oceans and lava fields are all incredibly real and incredibly tangible.
Although Wendy isn't as sharp as Beasts clarity of storyline and focusits unfocused narrative, fragmented plot and dream logic can sometimes make you think — it once more demonstrates that Zeitlin's talent is unmatched with enthralling performances by its young cast, particularly the six year old Yashua Mack who plays Peter as well as Devin France as Wendy. The title implies that Wendy's story is the main focus and France is the main character without a shiver. With her at the center it's difficult not to fall in love with this refreshingly adult version of a massive adventure.
