Directed by Will Gluck (Annie; Friends with Benefits) and starring Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars: Episode VII & VIII; Brooklyn; The Revenant; Anna Karenina), Rose Byrne (Bad Neighbours; Insidious: The Last Key; X-Men: Apocalypse; The Internship; The Place Beyond the Pines), Sam Neill (Reilly: Ace of Spies; The Piano; Thor: Ragnarok; Hunt for the Wilderpeople; Tommy's Honour; Jurassic Park III) and the voices of James Corden (The Lady in the Van; Into the Woods; The Three Musketeers; The History Boys), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya; Goodbye Christopher Robin; The Wolf of Wall Street; The Legend of Tarzan), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby; Everest; Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2; The Night Manager (tv series)), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII & VIII; Murder on the Orient Express) and Colin Moody (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; Bridget Jones' Diary).
Part animated, family adventure; 95 mins; children admitted.
Based on the books by Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit (James Corden), his threes sisters - Flopsy (Margot Robbie) Mopsy (Elizabeth Debicki) and Cotton Tail (Daisy Ridley), together with their cousin Benjamin (Colin Moody) live a carefree existence and enjoy the danger posed by old Mr McGregor (Sam Neill) who protects his vegetable garden from the family of rabbits.
Relatively early in the film, old Mr McGregor dies and a grand nephew Thomas McGregor (Domhnall Gleeson) inherits the house and garden. Having been passed up for a promotion at a prestigious toy store in London and gets fired for his reaction to the job going to a relation of the owner, he has no taste for the country and intends to put the house (and garden) on the market.
But that is before he meets neighbour Bea (Rose Byrne), an artist who has a soft spot for Peter Rabbit, his sisters and cousin...
Well, that's the backdrop to the story. What happens is as would have happened if Beatrix Potter had scripted it herself - a children's tale with emotional highs and lows and quite a few morals. And there are some true life issues that are addressed too, such as unemployment, death, inheritance, love, tolerance, pretence, forgiveness and fun - lots of fun, through the escapades Peter Rabbit leads them into...
Technically, the film links the animated characters really well with the real actors, and the scenes in the vegetable garden (and McGregor's house) are expertly choreographed - it's when the action moves back to London that it starts to get a little silly. But this is first and foremost a children's film, so that's not really such a bad thing. And the Csting Director has done a great job - one would think that the role of Peter Rabbit was tailor made for James Corden!
A must to see, not only during the Easter holidays, but to keep children - and adults alike - amused over and over again.
