By Margaret Rose Tipton-Siytangco

Faith, hope, and trust…and a little bit of pixie dust. When I heard there was a Peter Pan live-action movie in the works, I had hopes that it would do well. After all, one cannot screw up magic and Neverland. Though, admittedly, it’d be hard to live up to Robin William's "Hook."

I am a Peter Pan fan. From the books to the animated movie, I am a fan. The first time I went to London, I asked my dad to bring me to Big Ben. Why? Because of Peter Pan. And I cried. I was the weirdo 18yr old crying while looking up at the Clock tower. And for the past three years, this 46-year-old has been walking around, wearing a Peter Pan Loungefly backpack as my daily bag.

Now that we’ve established my utter love for Pan and the gang, here are my honest thoughts about the latest installment (without spoilers of couse!)

Hollywood strikes again and turned the entire cast into its own inclusivity gang. Woman power is in full bloom. There are now gurls in the Lost boys. The lovable Raccoon-dressed Twins from the 1953 cartoon are now identical twin girls. Other than the fact that it seems like Hollywood ticked off as many woke boxes as they could, I was very happy to see one of the Lost Boys representing children with Down Syndrome. Yet nothing quite prepared me for Tink and Peter. (yes, I avoided every single trailer).

Tink, unlike the animated movie version, has lost her jealousy and is more like the nice personality of the Tinkerbell animated series. There was a loss of the tension that was so palpable in the cartoon. Peter takes a backseat to Wendy, who is the powerhouse of the show. Where before, Wendy was the heart of the story and Peter was the muscle— things have reversed in Neverland.

Even shy, quiet Tiger lily is more Pocahontas than anything else. And Hook? Hook! Well, he’s really all grown up, yet we get a rare peek into his past as a child. The movie provides a rare glance at what makes Captain Hook tick. And toc. Pardon the pun. I sit here asking myself, do I like this rendition of Peter Pan? I am honestly conflicted. It has all the right ingredients— magic, action, adventure. It will touch the inner child in you.

But, as I am now a mother… I have to be honest and say that some of it is not for young children. I love Pan and everything about him. And even though this is so different from what has come before, I know it’ll be part of my Pan legends now. But I gotta say… I’m old, and I think I’ll never look at a crocodile the same way.