Peter Rabbit movie review: What the film lacks is taking Peter Rabbit beyond the McGregor farm.
Peter Rabbit movie cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Emily Blunt; Voices of James Corden, Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Ridley
Peter Rabbit movie director: Will Gluck
Peter Rabbit movie rating: 2.5 stars
Based on Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit series about a rabbit and his mischievous forays into the vegetable garden of the cranky old Mr McGregor, Peter Rabbit is harmless if lazy fun. The jokes are simple, the music less than special, the humour expected, the plot cliched — and yet, it’s not an afternoon wasted.
While sticklers for the books have found the retelling a tad too American, it’s interesting that the film ventures so far as to put Peter the rabbit (voiced by Corden) and Gleeson’s Thomas McGregor on par when it comes to passing out the blame. We are used to stories were animals are always the aggrieved party, and this is a departure, at the very least.
There are also some clever little jokes involving salads and dressing, lipstick vs lip-balm, deer caught in headlights, ‘matchy’ fashion sense, and the one person in the family who decides things for all the others.
What the film lacks is taking Peter Rabbit beyond the McGregor farm. However, the fact that it gets so much out of that small yard can’t be dismissed either.