By Laura BennettMonday 19 Feb 2018MoviesReading Time: 2 minutes
Listen: Laura Bennett’s review of Peter Rabbit.
Peter Rabbit and his three sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-Tail are back and causing quite a stir in the 2018 remake of Peter Rabbit.
Tapping into our love of nostalgia, Peter returns to Mr McGregor’s garden, chasing the thrill of hard-won tomatoes and pumpkins while dodging McGregor’s rake hoping not to become pie-filling. When one of McGregor’s relatives moves in, he discovers just how out of control the “rodent” problem has become and embarks in a tit-for-tat game of wit with his wily counterpart.
Unlike the TV series and 2006 film Miss Potter, Peter Rabbit doesn’t have much to say about its original creator Beatrix Potter (McGregor’s neighbour ‘Bea’ is an artist with a soft spot for the cuddly jacket-wearing critters). Instead, this year’s take on the classic makes its mark with commentary on our need to respect creatures of all shapes and sizes, and (strange) rants about the responsibilities of parenting, and kids with allergies.
Peter’s comments have been enough to generate calls for a boycott, with any tongue-in-cheek intentions not being appreciated. It’s not clear what the filmmakers were trying to do here, given the ‘allergy scene’ is secondary to the main thrust of the film, and distracts from an otherwise harmless and quirky family flick.
If you read the books as a kid, you’ll enjoy some throwbacks to your childhood friends, and an excellent opportunity to connect your children to a meaningful story about the way we behave, and how it affects others.
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Peter Rabbit is rated PG
Release Date Thursday, 22 March 2018
Peter Rabbit stars Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, James Corden, Elizabeth Debicki, Daisy Ridley