MOVIE REVIEW: A Tourist's Guide to Love

Images by Sasidis Sasisakulporn for Netflix

A TOURIST’S GUIDE TO LOVE– 3 STARS

In 2022, for the fourth time in five years, the country of Vietnam was named “Asia’s Leading Destination” by the World Travel Awards. Because of that stunning chosen locale, A Tourist’s Guide to Love is the kind of movie that could easily dazzle an audience on mute alone. On a purely surface level, all the Netflix movie needed to do was keep the cameras on the luscious places and attractive actors. Benefited by the country’s many sounds and an appealing maidenly romance transpiring, A Tourist’s Guide to Love plays just fine with the sound on as well.

Former teen star Rachel Leigh Cook leads A Tourist’s Guide to Love as Los Angeles-based Tourista travel executive Amanda Riley. She is swirling in disappointment from a sudden breakup with her accountant boyfriend (Superstore’s Ben Feldman) of five years. Sensing that her partner needs a getaway boost, Amanda’s assertive boss (comedienne Missy Pyle) assigns Amanda to be her eyes and ears in Vietnam to scout Saigon Silver Star, a small family-owned tour service that Tourista is looking to purchase. To do so with business in mind, Amanda embarks as an undercover “secret shopper” member of a vacation group and brings her own well-researched itinerary.

The Saigon Silver Star tour groups are run by a two-person team of cousins– Anh and Sinh. The former (Thanh Truc of My Mr. Wife) is the entertaining driver while the latter (TV actor Scott Ly, making his film debut) is the mouthpiece and man-with-the-plan. With an aim-to-please and resourceful local connections, the semi-Americanized Sinh favors an experiential route through his native country, and Amanda’s group will be there to celebrate the important lunar new year and spring festival holiday of Tết.

LESSON #1: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TOURIST AND A TRAVELER– As soon as Sinh sees Amanda armed with her itinerary and guidebook, he teases her to put them away for fear of looking like a tourist. Amusingly, the very organized and persnickety Amanda sees herself as exactly that. The smooth Sinh wants her to be more than a tourist with his stellar two-sentence line of “Tourists want to escape life. Travelers want to experience it.” The handsome man is dead right and his savvy candor turns Amanda’s head. Moreover, those lines should be everyone’s vacation mantra, no matter the length or distance of the trip.

LESSON #2: TRAVEL FORCES PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE– Sinh continues his inspiring challenges to the square Amanda with this lesson next. Regular tourist sites are merely checkboxes. Going off the beaten path to more genuine or exotic places immerses a traveler in the hosting culture, from the food and language to the traditions and families themselves. The more foreign, the better when it comes to an impactful new experience. Sure enough, Amanda is changing her life with every turn of this trip. Is it really that easy? You know, sometimes it is? Let it happen.

It doesn’t take a heady film viewer to see the convenient parallels between those first two lessons and the matters of romance in A Tourist’s Guide to Love, especially with the overarching New Year setting happily nudging characters to try new things. Quite clearly, there are different immersive paths to finding love and potential activities and matches that go against someone’s usual limitations and preferences. Cobra Kai TV director Steven K. Tsuchida and screenwriter Eirene Donohue (whose last three screenplays were TV Christmas movies) patiently allowed a level of adult maturity for its path to bring its obvious on-screen couple together.

Probably the simplest test for a romance is whether viewers can root for the potential partners at hand. A Tourist Guide to Love offers a quaint and affirmative response to that challenge. Rachel Leigh Cook, 25 years after dropping jaws in She’s All That, burrows her career woman Amanda Riley in an easily flustered shell of mild anxieties that grate slightly. Yet, when necessary, Rachel’s winning smile and strong gaze bring Amanda forward when her knees (and shell) weaken. 

Aside from a welcome scene of him emerging from the ocean wet and shirtless, Scott Ly’s Sinh could have very easily been reduced to being a live-action, Vietnamese version of the “Brazilian Helicopter Pilot” thirst trap memory from Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out. Instead, Sinh is granted the behavior of a gentleman and a virtuous passion for profession that make him more than a vacation play-thing. Let this fresh face get more roles and chances in whatever country you put him in.

In different hands and with weaker goals, A Tourist’s Guide to Love would be a hot-and-steamy romp of debauchery in a hot-and-steamy country. There’s certainly a place for that in the streaming scroll for the Netflix-and-Chill crowd. Alternatively, there’s a place for cuddly chastness too. A Tourist’s Guide to Love respects its characters, its audience, and its cultural depictions with more tact and nobility than the norm, giving us a refreshing and relaxing PG-rated romantic drama.

LESSON #3: CALL A TRAVEL AGENT– Before this review ends, Vietnam deserves our appreciation. Remember, all cinematographer Jon Keng (Little Big Women) had to do for the first Netflix original film shot in Vietnam was turn the camera on and let the urban and rural vistas from location manager Luke Harrison Ford do the rest for us as a cinematic travelogue. Keng’s drone work for establishing shots, street-level mobility, and wide lens for vibrant color show off the biggest star of A Tourist’s Guide to Love. If you didn’t investigate travel prices, destination names, or a recipe or two after watching this movie, more than the romance flew over your head.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1115)

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Is Love Truly Blind?

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Is Love Truly Blind?

"Love is Blind," a popular reality series on Netflix, challenges conventional dating norms by letting contestants develop strong emotional connections with people they have never met.

The series has become popular because of its innovative concept and ability to depict the complexity of present-day relationships. The program may be enjoyable, but it also offers some important relationships and love lessons. In this blog, we will be discussing ten lessons you can learn from the series.

Connection goes beyond physical appearance

Everyone has a "type": for some, it is the usual tall, dark, and handsome; others prefer them light-skinned, slender, etc. However, the "Love is Blind series" emphasizes that one of the most significant lessons is that a connection goes beyond physical appearance. The show demonstrates that it is possible to form a deep emotional connection with someone without ever seeing them.

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Best Betting and Gambling Platforms With Reload Offers

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Many beginners in the world of betting and gambling know the tricks of gaming platforms that are ready to provide no-deposit bonuses. This type of bonus is very effective when you need to attract new customers to register and start playing. However, risk-free one-time gifts, most often remain at the level of the first bet of the player who does not want to spend their money and leave the website immediately after losing the first bonus amounts or deposit. To prevent this from happening, and the platform could constantly retain long-registered customers, there is a reload offers system that provides permanent gifts when replenishing each new deposit in the game.

The most popular reload offers

In practice, several types of reload programs are used, which depend on the type of gambling or betting platform, games offered by developers, and other nuances, which are described in detail below.

Reload in horse racing

This bonus attracts and retains regular betting platform customers who cover their possible risks with insurance. In some cases, the reload offer may be temporary, as part of promotions, but many platforms offer such conditions of the game on an ongoing basis. There are several types of reload offers in horse racing:

• Full or partial bet refund if the player's chosen horse comes second. A very popular type of reload offers, which gives the player two chances at once - either to win or simply not to lose their money so that they can be wagered in the next round. Often used in derbies, but many bookmakers limit the maximum refund to £25.

• The most profitable for players is the offer of a partial refund of the money spent in case of loss. In such cases, users should carefully study the betting rules of a particular betting website.

• The professional reload program is BBL, where the amount of cashback depends not only on the serial number under which the player's horse finished but also on the length of the gap between the winner and other participants.

• The opportunity for a player to make a free bet is if in the first round when the deposit was replenished and the bet was made, his horse was not the winner. This offer entails some risks for the bookmaker but attracts customers to the game very much.

• Horse fall insurance in case the races run with obstacles. Thus, even the strongest stallion can be easily incapacitated by an accidental oversight. To prevent this from happening, users of bookmakers are offered insurance against such cases.

In addition to the reload offers listed above, lamprey betting platforms also offer their players programs such as additional places where players can choose to bet with lower odds that will give them a small win or return the amount of the bet if the horse does not come first, not second, and not even the fourth, but, for example, the fifth.

Which reload offers apply to bets on the outcome of a football match?

Football is the most popular sport in the betting industry. A huge number of bookmakers are actively competing with each other to keep their customers. One of the most popular bonuses in this sport is the following types of reload offers:

• The possibility of a free bet, in case of any outcome of the match. This offer implies guarantees to the player if the match is drawn or the outcome is determined by the results of the penalty. Also, players may receive a refund if a member of their favorite team receives a red card from the referee and is sent off. As a rule, such offers are limited to 20 - 25 dollars or pounds sterling, but players, in any case, do not lose all the money.

• The international system of betting insurance for players according to ACCA makes it possible to receive a partial refund of bets in the form of a cashback or a gift in the form of replenishment of the deposit amount after a loss.

• Offer to refund money in case of goals are scored. There is an additional system for drawing the number of goals from any team. As a rule, bookmakers offer additional winnings if a team scores 1, 2, or 3 goals in a row, regardless of time and period.

Thus, football reloads offers to ensure that the player can try his luck several times in a row. Regardless of whether his bet played or not and how much luck smiles at him in a real draw.

Unique reload offers in online casinos

Pair bets are very popular in the gambling industry as well. However, unlike sports betting, such offers in online casinos are intended mainly for experienced players who can operate with possible winnings and never play just at random, but with an accurate calculation of a possible win. The most popular reload offers in online casinos officially registered on the gambling market are listed below:

• Increasing the amount of the bet after a loss guarantees not only the return of the full amount but also the possibility of obtaining a second win, even if the first bets were unsuccessful.

• A full refund of money spent. As a rule, such offers are limited to certain amounts, for example, 10, 15, or 20 pounds. When a player loses a given amount on bets, the system automatically returns exactly this money to his account, and the user of the program can repeat his bets without replenishing the deposit.

Many gambling websites, in addition to the listed options, also make individual reload offers for customers, depending on the internal marketing policy and the calculation of possible winnings for players, in combination with the commercial profitability of the casino.

Where can I see reload offers?

There are many platforms on the Internet where players can find reload offers, and the most popular of them are the following portals:

• Oddsmonkey is one of the most popular online portals that offer reload programs for both bookmakers and online casinos.

• Profit Maximizer is a unique independent website where online casinos and sportsbooks offer their offers for promotions and other great offers, including reloading.

Thanks to these simple platforms, each player can quickly find an offer that best suits his wishes, download a promotional code and then use it when replenishing a deposit or when betting on the outcome of a sporting event, or a lucky combination of numbers.

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry ★★★

Director: Hettie Macdonald  Cast: Jim Broadbent, Penelope Wilton  Release: April 28, 2023  In the build-up to the release of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a viral tweet surfaced arguing that the typical British film surrounding two older, gentile protagonists would often have an incredulous title that waffles on in the way we’d expect its […]

The post The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry ★★★ appeared first on Movie Marker.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3– 3 STARS

There’s a recurring gag, one of many in James Gunn’s trilogy finale Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, where a wild dramatic videogame-worthy move of some kind will be landed by one of our heroes. In that victorious mini-moment, the performing stud will look over to one or more of their teammates and ask, “Did it look cool?” Within the movie, the answer is always wide-eyed “Yes!” 

To us in the audience, we may or may not be holding up different scorecards as cinematic contest judges from our IMAX or Dolby Atmos-enhanced seats. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the kind of movie that can bring together mind-blown NBA Dunk Contest reactions, the more erudite and dramatic types from Dancing With the Stars, or the full-on Olympic-level figure skating and gymnastic judges looking for every flourish and decimal point of technicality.

LESSON #1: QUESTIONING COOLNESS– That being said, this very writer attempts to measure the question of coolness in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 like this. If you have to ask, is it really that cool? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but how much preening is really necessary when you have a guaranteed hit. That can be called trying too hard.

When it comes to coolness, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an air conditioner of a blockbuster movie. Its comic book movie breeze is crisp and non-stop, making any hot room feel stupendous. The compressors are chugging on full blast and the thermostat is set low for maximum chill. But, like any air conditioner, you can run that machine too long. It’ll churn, rattle, need a filter or two, frost up, run out of refrigerant, or overdo the coolness for the room.

Jumping ahead from when we last saw our characters on The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (not required homework by any means for this movie, but worth the visit), the defenders-for-hire have set up a ramshackle headquarters on the space barrio streets of Knowhere. Their R&R time is interrupted by the thundering arrival of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a genetically engineered being from the Sovereign sent to capture Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper and performed on set by Sean Gunn) for the mad scientist High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji from John Wick: Chapter 2). In the fracas, Rocket is gravely wounded and any medical intervention capable of saving him is disrupted by the killswitch attached to his heart from his old mechanical implants.

As we come to learn, High Evolutionary is the brilliant and vile man who installed that killswitch and made Rocket the enhanced and scarred individual everyone loves and fears today. High Evolutionary has never been able to tap or replicate Rocket’s innate knack for engineering and seeks to put him under the knife once again. With the Guardian’s quest to track down the High Evolutionary to his planet-sized homebase lab of Counter-Earth and save their friend, James Gunn essentially hands the majority of this movie’s put-upon importance to Bradley Cooper’s surly varmint.

LESSON #2: SAVE THE ANIMALS– While you cannot steal a movie that’s handed to you in this way, the deep flashbacks chronicling the previously-unrevealed origin of Rocket Raccoon warm the rest of the room from what the movie air conditioner is doing elsewhere. Caged between experiments, young Rocket befriends a trio of fellow test subjects– Lyllah, Teefs, and Floor, who are an otter, walrus, and bunny voiced respectively by Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, and Mikaela Hoover– who long for their promised utopian freedom. Their naive and supportive cuteness is pitted against the cruelty of Iwukji’s powerful villain. In a unique way, with all the valiant animal rescue occurring, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could have been sponsored by the SPCA as a not-so-low-key anti-animal cruelty PSA backed by the Marvel entertainment machine.

When the group enlists the help of the Ravagers to help infiltrate facilities and track down High Evolutionary, that alliance brings in the version of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) from the pre-Endgame timeline that never met Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Their lost, unrequited love is reinjected into trilogy as subplots, alongside a myriad of what-more-can-be-done stepping stone moments of valor and schtick for Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and Groot (Vin Diesel). 

LESSON #3: IT’S NICE TO HAVE FRIENDS– Bigger than the encyclopedia of races and species everyone is and all their different walks of life, the friendship goals know no bounds in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Even if there’s always one or two morons on a given team (another recurring humorous bit in this movie), good friends include them with love, loyalty, and support. That tenet has been the hallmark theme of the entire trilogy since their rag-tag, loner-curing formation nine years ago. 

That’s all well and good, but the route Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 takes with this interstellar chase is all over the place. Start with the villain and his goal of creating genetic perfection on a planetary scale and razing every failed attempt along the way. Unfortunately for Chukwudi Iwukji, he’s only granted two vocal settings for his dialogue. It’s either pontificating whispers of altruistic intent or a shout-to-the-balcony scream of maniacal yelling. The latter gets awfully repetitive and downright foolish, weakening what could have been a prime heel for a Marvel movie. Comic fans will also find disappointment in the himbo treatment of Adam Warlock, played by professional movie doofus Will Poulter. The character’s badassness was nearly completely neutered.

Circling back to the “Did it look cool?” showcase, two more by-products percolate. The positive one is the rich production value. The massive army of makeup arists from Legacy Effects and the production design work spearheaded by Beth Mickle (The Suicide Squad) created arguably Marvel’s most unique set designs and character creations this side of Black Panther. The accompanying VFX from supervisors Susan Pickett (Eternals) and two-time Oscar nominee Stephane Ceretti (Doctor Strange) spew explosions and censor-softened, non-crimson alien blood all through the wild stunt choreography from coordinator Heidi Moneymaker. Everywhere you look, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 pops off the screen with distinct coolness.

The more challenging by-product is the density of it all, so to speak. When you feel the urgent need to give everyone multiple hero moments and cathartic codas, as James Gunn does in this swan song, you get a busy movie that, for the air conditioner we’ve been talking about, becomes over-cooled. While the final third of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gets to contain the big brawl of sentiment and action for loyal fans, it also becomes very overstuffed and flirts with the classic Moon Knight “random bullshit go!!!” meme for ridiculousness and exhaustion.

Luckily, unlike Taika Watiti, James Gunn can pace his jokes. The departing writer-director who is heading across town to helm the DCU for Warner Bros. gives his comedy some minutes (even the extra ones stretching to 150 in total) to breathe and, best of all, wholly balances them with epic feels. Gunn’s now-legendary curated soundtrack choices, piped through a Microsoft Zune and produced by Marvel’s go-to music supervisor Dave Jordan, surge the emotional roller coaster to even more stylish heavens than before. Sorry, Air. You had a good one-month run as the best soundtrack of 2023. The champ has returned.

Ultimately, any air-conditioned frost of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can be scraped or shaken off relatively easily, but not this movie’s heart. That’s going nowhere in Knowhere. The jovial intimacy brims throughout every heroic character interaction from all involved. In the end, the quality time of hugs are cooler than any perilous gunshot, slashing blade, or punching power move.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1114)

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MOVIE REVIEW: Peter Pan & Wendy

Images courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

PETER PAN AND WENDY— 4 STARS

Thanks to its period setting, David Lowery’s Peter Pan & Wendy taps into a lost art of childhood that has diminished in the last few decades. The film opens with an extended scene of make-believe play. John and Michael Darling, the younger brothers of our heroine Wendy, have wooden sword props and wear makeshift costumes as they pretend to act out the battles of Peter Pan and Captain Hook across their well-to-do house. By the end of their frolicking melee playing out the movie’s story-within-the-story framework setup, a mirror is broken and a father admonishes the eldest daughter from still continuing in such childish pursuits.

LESSON #1: THE BEAUTY OF MAKE-BELIEVE PLAY– That’s a quick moment of disappointment for Wendy facing a coming-of-age. Long before video games, devices, and other entertainment sources, make-believe play continued after the toddler years, only with more sophistication. Not only were social skills developed during make-believe play but one’s rich imagination and capacity for creative thinking. That’s the splendid key. A boundless imagination could turn the simplest surroundings into something grand and meaningful, no matter your age. 

In 2023, we’ve reached a generation where most tweens and teens have forgotten how a wardrobe closet or a swinging rope can take someone to Narnia or Terabithia. A random stick or empty wrapping paper tube used to vanquish pirates, soldiers, or dark figures from a galaxy far, far away. The one semi-underground crowd still tapping into a version of make-believe play far into adulthood are the friends who bring together a few manuals, scripted modules, dice, and character creation steps for Dungeons & Dragons. How often are they called weirdos while the rest are picking up their phones or a game controller to find adventure someplace else? 

Bless his heart, David Lowery has not forgotten the sensation and formative power found in the analog brands of fantasy. Constructed with earthy textures, Peter Pan & Wendy is a glorious realization and extension of make-believe play that welcomes an old-fashioned conscience. Lowery, in his second foray with Disney after his phenomenal Pete Dragon from 2015, brandishes his own creative streak with a divergent freedom and zero shame for doing so. 

Stay on that notion of make-believe play and Lowery’s earthy textures and ask yourself what a Peter Pan would look like in this creator’s headspace and hands. After all, this is the man who twisted cinephile minds with A Ghost Story and The Green Knight. If you pictured tangible rawness blended with idyllic sumptuousness made for a wider demographic, you guessed correctly. Lowery surrounded himself with equally naturalistic talents to build this fully realized bedtime story. The result is a fairy tale that could not only live and breathe in one’s exotic imagination but in our own conceivable backyards.

The Green Knight production designer Jade Healy, Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy costume designer, and first-time set decoration head Zoe Jirik chose an array of greenery and forestry in their craft work that scuff and smudge the usual Disney palette of chromatic polish. Shot on the expansive and rugged coastlines of Newfoundland and Labrador secured by The Art of Racing in the Rain location manager Dan Kuzmenko, Pete’s Dragon director of photography Bojan Bazelli dives amid the pristine Canadian sunshine to light his subjects and surfaces with genuine vibrancy instead of the studio’s artificially bedazzled sparkle. 

LESSON #2: THE ADVENTURE THAT AWAITS IN GROWING UP– Well-rooted in J.M. Barrie original work, the theme of facing maturity is front and center in Peter Pan & Wendy. Right after Wendy is lightly scolded by her father George (Disney good luck charm Alan Tudyk) for her part in the bedtime chicanery, her mother Mary (Molly Parker of Lost in Space and Deadwood) pulls her aside to assure Wendy (Ever Anderson from Black Widow) that a new adventure awaits in growing up. Wendy doesn’t want to hear it, but Mary beautifully says, “Imagine the things you would miss out on if you didn’t see where it took you and what the world would miss if you didn’t do them.” That’s terrific parental support and an anchor planted before the movie ever takes off for the second star to the right.

As we all know through the many incarnations of Barrie’s story over the century, Lesson #2 goes against the spunky vitality of Peter Pan, played here by Alexander Molony in his film debut. He has found a magical place where he doesn’t have to age. In Neverland, Peter rules the roost with the loyal fairy Tinker Bell (Black-ish cast member Yara Shahidi), a territorial kinship with Tiger Lily (striking newcomer Alyssa Wapanatahk), and a band of Lost Boys at his side. For all that, he remains locked in conflict with his mortal enemy Captain James Hook, played by the top-lining Jude Law, flanked by his first-mate stooge Smee (comedian Jim Gaffigan) and a bevy of rough-and-tumble blokes. 

Where David Lowery and his co-screenwriter Toby Halbrooks bend the old Peter Pan yarn is through a deepened connection between the “proud, insolent youth” and the “sad, sinister man” pitted against him. Far beyond the animated classic from 1953, this new film enlivens a backstory of destiny and strain between James and Peter, staging them as former friends where one left Neverland after missing his mother and returned jaded and bitter for the youth he gave up. Jude Law adds excellent heft conveying painful regret to the central villain’s role that is normally played as a gaudy, raving lunatic. 

LESSON #3: LET THE GIRLS PLAY TOO– The second narrative boost woven by Halbrooks and Lowery is one of welcome female empowerment. More true to Barrie, the Wendy character in Peter Pan & Wendy is recruited to be a mother-figure but eschews it after a while to be the hero of her own story. Both she and the improved depiction of Tiger Lily present two sources of female leadership never attempted on this scale with the classic fairy tale. They coexist to make Peter Pan himself better rather than the other way around, and the actors express themselves well. Together, Ever Anderson, Alexander Molony, and Alyssa Wapanatahk deserve their springboards to greater opportunities. 

That said, Lowery and Halbrooks wrote on their own whim to condense the original Barrie story and morph the Disney animated edition. Equal to Lesson #3, some modernizing choices are made to change some stakes and whole plot tangents are diverted to other conclusions. Those looking for a ticking crocodile to steal the show will be disappointed. Shahidi’s Tinker Bell takes a bit of a backseat to the enhanced Wendy and Tiger Lily, and the posse of Lost Boys– like a missing Tootles, an important traditional linchpin– could have used some additional identity. This could have easily been two movies or a mini-series on Disney+.

In its own way, Peter Pan & Wendy leans on morose gravitas and skips a little bit of the zip that launches this quest from London to the fantastical beyond. A dose of next-level heart (something from Pete’s Dragon that was equal to the “Pixar Punch”), for better or worse, is missing with its devil-may-care energy. However, what’s here in Lowery’s film is an engaging and mature advancement. For the second time, Lowery seems to be the one hired auteur from Disney that takes the prospect of “re-imagining” seriously to deconstruct and reconstruct big mythos. Frankly, please hire him to be the steward for any and all of these the Mouse House is willing to do. 

LESSON #4: WHAT ARE YOUR HAPPY THOUGHTS?-- Rebounding from the criticism of missing zip, let’s conclude on the reverence of Peter Pan & Wendy that still has the ability to stir the mind and heart of the viewer. As generations have seen for a long time, when doused with pixie dust and focused on happy thoughts, a companion of our swashbuckling boy can leave their feet and fly. In those moments, those stirred in the audience will close their eyes and consider what personal memories, motivations, and feelings would lift them off the ground.

With mere seconds of flashed images and events, Lowery sweeps us away and gives us glimpses at what those happy thoughts are for Wendy. Closing her eyes and concentrating at a crucial moment at the climax, her happy thoughts go a different direction of time than one would expect, creating a full circle moment to Mary Darling’s words to her daughter. Watchers of Peter Pan & Wendy might just be feeling the same flash-forward beyond their own bounds of adulthood or youth. It’s gentle touches like that which make what Lowery is doing special.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1113)

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