Peter Rabbit (2018) - Review

Being that it is Easter weekend, Peter Rabbit seemed like an obvious choice for a film to watch. I quite enjoyed the trailers, so I was very interested to see if this movie could continue the momentum that Paddington began for children's storybook adaptations. Unfortunately, it did not.

Peter Rabbit stars late-night host James Corden as the voice of the titular bunny, a mischievous leader of a host of woodland creatures who all desire to use the garden of the angry farmer, Mr. McGregor. When McGregor's nephew takes over the garden and begins to romance Peter's human friend Bea, it becomes an all-out war.

Before we dive into the negative's of the film, let's start with the positives. First, the animation of the rabbits and other animals was fantastic. There are many scenes in which Peter directly interacts with Mr. McGregor, his nephew and Bea, and there was never a noticeable hiccup or clever camerawork to hide any shoddy CGI. That is to be commended. It is hard enough to pull off a motion capture character where an actor stands in, but for the actors to play off of thin air, and then the creatures be edited in in post-production is a Herculean task. The team at Animal Logic should be very proud.

Second, Domhnall Gleeson continues to enter my list of favourite actors with this performance. I had a feeling that he would steal the show from the trailers, and I was wholly satisfied. Chewing scenery left and right, Gleeson channels that General Hux anger but turns it up to 11, going full-bore comedy act complete with pratfalls and tons of reaction shots. Half-way through the film, I began to feel bad for Thomas McGregor for suffering copious amounts of abuse at the hands of Peter Rabbit...

...Which leads me to my big problem with the film. The character of Peter Rabbit is just a jerk. He is egotistical and a real danger to his friends, escalating the situation with McGregor to an utterly ridiculous point. Now I understand that Peter's arc sees him realizing this, but the fact that he gets what he wants in the end with no consequences makes this arc feel completely unearned. I think it's a poor message to send to the target demographic for this movie that it is OK to keep making mistakes because in the end, it will all work out anyway.

It does not help that Peter and his family do way more damage to McGregor than McGregor comes close to doing to them. As I mentioned, it feels utterly cruel at points, particularly when they use an allergy against him. While I think the backlash against the film from parents groups for that scene was a bit overboard, I do think that highlights a key flaw in the film: Peter is not someone you want to root for. There's a difference between a character inflicting violence for defensive purposes, and a character inflicting violence for offensive purposes. Peter more often than not falls into the latter, creating a downright unlikeable hero. While children may fall for the cuteness of the animals, I honestly do not believe they will enjoy the content of their actions (somewhat confirmed by my theatre, in which NO CHILDREN LAUGHED during the entire film).

If you are contemplating a furry creature film to show to your children, check out this year's Paddington 2. While Paddington was heartfelt, with likeable, relatable characters, funny humour and a strong message, Peter Rabbit is an inconsequential piece that despite a great cast (Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, Rose Byrne and Sam Neill also feature), never finds the emotional center it desperately needs. SKIP IT.