Neverland (miniseries)

Neverland is a fantasy miniseries that aired on the Syfy network (United States) on December 4 and 5, 2011, and Sky Movies (United Kingdom) on December 9 and 16 December on Zee Cinema (India), written and directed by Nick Willing. It is a prequel to the story of Peter Pan.

Neverland
DVD cover
GenreAdventure
Fantasy
Written byNick Willing
Directed byNick Willing
StarringRhys Ifans
Anna Friel
Charles Dance
Q'orianka Kilcher
Raoul Trujillo
Cas Anvar
George Aguilar
Bob Hoskins
Charlie Rowe
Keira Knightley
Theme music composerRonan Hardiman
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Production
Producer(s)Redmond Morris
CinematographySeamus Deasy
Editor(s)Allan Lee
Running time161 minutes
Production company(s)Parallel Films
Sky Movies Production
Release
Original networkSyfy (US), Sky Movies (UK), Zee Cinema (India)
Original release4 December (2011-12-04) –
5 December 2011 (2011-12-05)

Plot

Part 1

In London, England 1906, arch crook and ace fencer James "Jimmy" Hook (Rhys Ifans) assembles a gang of juvenile street thieves, including Peter (Charlie Rowe). Jimmy proposes the risky job robbing of Harbottle's Jewelry and Antiques, which he has been hired to rob. However, after seeing Peter's over-eagerness and the hesitancy of the other boys, he changes his mind and decides to do the job alone. Determined to prove himself to Jimmy, Peter talks the other boys into attempting the heist, neglecting to mention that Jimmy had explicitly told him not to.

The boys successfully break in, and are looting the place when Jimmy arrives. Upset with Peter, but determined to get what he came for, Jimmy sets Peter as a lookout in the front of the shop, taking the other boys into the back to search. Jimmy finds what he was hired to steal: a strange glowing orb. While gazing into it, he is startled by the image of a crocodile. Jimmy falls off the stool he was standing on, and the orb falls to the ground. There is a flash of light, encompassing Jimmy and all of the boys with him. Peter, still in the front room, sees the light and discovers that Jimmy, the boys, and part of the building have vanished. Believing it was a bomb and his friends are dead, Peter takes the orb and returns home.

A man arrives asking for Jimmy, and Peter decides to follow him, hoping to get information about why Jimmy was hired to steal the orb. He is caught, and introduced to Dr. Richard Fludd. Dr. Fludd explains that the orb is a portal that is activated by impact, and that Jimmy and the boys are not dead, but have been transported to another world. Peter escapes and returns home, where he hits the orb, determined to find his friends and bring them home. Immediately after Peter vanishes, Dr. Fludd arrives and finds the orb.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and the boys find themselves in a strange land and are quickly captured by a band of pirates, led by Captain Elizabeth Bonny (Anna Friel). The pirates discovered the orb in the 1700s, and were transported to this world. They have not aged since they arrived. The captain decides that Jimmy is useless and tries to have him thrown to the giant ten-legged crocodiles. However, Jimmy manages to fight off the crew. Having earned their respect, Jimmy is allowed to stay, and the boys are locked up. Bonny shows Jimmy magical dust that comes from the fairy-like race (called "tree spirits") that live on the island. The dust gives the power of flight, but she only has a small vial and does not have the knowledge to use it properly. She explains that the tree spirit colony lies in a forest beyond an impassable mountain range, protected by a lost Kaw tribe. Jimmy agrees to help the pirates.

Peter finds himself in the middle of a strange forest, and is reunited with Fox, who managed to avoid being captured. They see a large swarm of tree spirits flying towards them. Running away, they stumble upon a group of Kaw hunters. They are blindfolded, and led to the Native village via a secret pass through the mountains. The boys make friends with the Natives and meet the chief's daughter, Princess Aaya/Tiger Lily (Q'orianka Kilcher). They learn that the natives protect the tree spirit colony from the pirates, who do not know how to navigate the land. Because the pirates are dangerous and possibly insane, Peter and Fox are not allowed to leave for fear they will be captured and tortured into giving up the tribe's secrets.

Peter and Fox sneak away from the tribe, and then steal a canoe to rescue their friends from the pirates. Fox and Peter manage to get the boys off of the ship, but Peter goes back for Jimmy, against the other boys' advice. He finds Jimmy in the Captain's quarters with Elizabeth, and tries to get him to leave. However, Jimmy refuses and tries to convince Peter that they aren't dangerous. Peter is taken into custody on Captain Bonny's orders, but Fox, who followed Peter, creates a diversion and Peter escapes the ship. Before Fox can follow, one of the pirates attempts to stab Hook, who dodges. Peter and the boys watch in dismay as Fox is stabbed instead, and he falls overboard.

Upon returning to the Native village, the boys blame Peter for Fox's death and for being trapped in this place, since he lied to them about the heist. While playing his flute alone, a tribal elder arrives and informs Peter that the tune is of the Tree Spirits. He then shows Peter a simple painting depicting a scene from a dream they've both had. Aaya arrives and recognizes the mountain in the painting as a place near their hunting grounds, called 'Bull Mountain'. The Elder hypothesizes that people who hit the orb have a stronger connection with this world than others, which is why they have the dreams. Peter decides to find the place, hoping to discover the hooded man in the dream and a way to return to London. Hook and Captain Bonny follow Peter & Aaya hoping to be led to the tree spirit colony.

While stopping for the night, Peter again plays the melody on his flute, and a tree spirit approaches him. The song is the sound that their wings make in flight. When Peter stops playing, she flies away and Peter and Aaya follow her. However, morning arrives making it too bright to see her. But as the sun comes up, they discover that they have been led to the base of a giant wall made of entwining trees. They decide to search within, sure that the hooded man will be there.

On the other side, they find a city made from entwined tress. They are approached by the hooded man, who reveals himself to be Dr. Richard Fludd (Charles Dance), the royal alchemist for Queen Elizabeth I. He leads them back to his laboratory, and explains that he discovered a planet which exists, paradoxically, at the edges and center of the universe simultaneously. Due to the strange nature of its position, time stands still. He created the orb as a way of transporting people to the planet, which is, of course, Neverland. However, on his 1st trip, he was stuck in Neverland, since the orb remains on Earth. He finally managed to create a sister orb that allowed him to leave Neverland. He activated it in Neverland with the power of 2 meteors, an event which imprints on everyone who actives the orb, causing the dreams. The tree spirit thought that Fludd was in danger as he harnessed the energy, and tried to save him, which imbued her with "astral energy". Fludd named the spirit Tinker Bell, due to the sound of her wings. He built the city as a Utopia where all the greatest scientific and artistic minds on Earth can live. While they plot a way to return Peter and the boys back to London, they are interrupted by Jimmy, Bonny, and several pirates who enter the city, having followed Peter and Aaya.

Peter and Aaya remain out of sight while Fludd tries to intimidate the pirates using illusions. Instead of leaving, the pirates begin to shoot at the illusions, setting fire to the tree city. As they leave the building, Hook spots Peter and follows him and Fludd. Fludd tells Peter to keep the orb safe, and then turns back to stop the pirates. Fludd refuses to tell Captain Elizabeth where the orb is, so she shoots and kills him. Hook catches up to Peter in the laboratory, and tries to persuade him join him. After a brief duel, Hook pins Peter to the floor and tells him that he knew Peter's mother. He shows Peter her picture in his pocket watch, and tells him that he promised her to keep Peter safe. Jimmy says that the pocket watch originally belonged to Peter's father.

Before he can explain any further, Captain Bonny and her crew arrive. Bonny finds the orb. Peter escapes to the balcony, where he is disarmed and held at sword point. As he is about to be stabbed by Captain Bonny, Aaya appears and tells them that she will tell them how to find the tree spirits, as long as they set Peter free. Peter breaks free, and runs toward Aaya, but Captain Bonny stabs him and he falls off of the balcony.

The pirates leave, taking Aaya prisoner. Peter is shown on the ground, supposedly dead.

Part 2

The pirates return to the ship, and Jimmy vows to get the power of flight before he returns to England. Meanwhile, Peter is brought to the tree spirit colony by Tinker Bell. He is healed, and immersed in a pool filled with the mineral dust, emerging with the ability to fly. The spirit elders tell him that he was recognized for his innocence, and he must use his new powers to stop Jimmy and bring the orb to the tree spirits.

Jimmy persuades the captain to risk traversing a ravine protected by the Natives, with Aaya as hostage. Halfway across, Peter cuts Aaya loose and flies her to safety. Peter confronts Jimmy and threatens Bonny to learn the orb's location. But a giant spider attacks, and Peter is incapacitated and captured by the pirates. Back on the ship, Bonny tells Jimmy their alliance is over, since all of his plans have failed. Jimmy escapes the ship with Peter. Seemingly changed, he tells Peter he wants to go back to London with him and the boys. He persuades Peter to show him the mountain passage so they can be reunited with the gang. But once they reach the passage, Jimmy betrays Peter and reveals that the pirates followed them. Jimmy promises Peter that if he takes them to the Tree Spirit colony and helps them get the Mineral, they will leave forever. Peter agrees. Upon arriving at the Tree Spirit colony, the pirates begin burning it to prevent the spirits from interfering. Just wanting the pirates leave, he shows them the mineral pool. Following Peter's instructions, Bonnie immerses herself in the mineral dust. It appears to have worked, and she starts floating. But she quickly burns to death, since she lacked innocence. Angry at yet another failure, Jimmy angrily tells Peter he killed his father for stealing Peter's mother from him. The Indians arrive and attack the pirates and Peter manages to escape in the chaos.

The tree spirits, angry that Peter lead Jimmy to them, try to erase Peter's memory so that the only thing left will be his childlike innocence. They are interrupted by Tinker Bell, who releases her astral energy on them. Now ostracized from her people, Tinker Bell soon realises that Peter has lost much of his memory. He is found by the Natives, who are also angry for his betrayal, and lock him in a pit.

Meanwhile, the Lost Boys begin bonding with the Native Tribe. They are still angry with Peter, especially Curly, who thinks that he has what it takes to replace Peter as leader. However, he freezes in fear while on a Crocodile hunt, and is saved by a native. He begins to realize that he doesn't have what it takes to be a leader. They decide to rescue Peter from captivity and remain loyal to each other.

They free Peter but he doesn't remember them. They try to remind him, but nothing works until Curly plays the gang's signal song on Peter's flute. With his memory back, Tinker Bell and Peter follow the pirates in the hopes of finding the orb. However, they discover that Jimmy, now known as Captain Hook, intends to bring back modern weapons to destroy the Indians. Peter warns Aaya, who does not believe him, so he returns to try to stop the pirates alone. Meanwhile, Aaya speaks to the Lost Boys and realizes that Peter was telling the truth. She and the boys manage to convince the Indians to help stop Hook. Peter follows Hook to the orb, while the Indians arrive and fight the pirates.

Before Hook can activate the orb, Peter intervenes. Peter duels with Hook, while Aaya leads the Lost Boys against the pirates. While fighting, Tinker Bell is badly injured. Peter inadvertently cuts off Hook's right hand, then demands his father's watch. Hook throws the watch at Peter, knocking him unconscious. Both the hand and the watch fall off the cliff, and are swallowed by a giant crocodile. Pirates try to activate the orb, but Tinker Bell uses her astral energy to stop them, which causes the cave to crumble. Aaya and the boys quickly escape. Peter reawakens and finds the orb and Tinker Bell (who has somehow fallen back unconscious), but he is unable to escape before the cave collapses.

Some time later, the boys are living with the Natives when they are surprised to see Peter reappear, dressed in a suit and accompanied by Tinker Bell. He tells them that he managed to activate the orb before the cave collapsed, returning to London. He stole the London orb, and hid it so no one else can use it, before activating it one last time to return to Neverland. They ask why he came back, since both orbs are lost and there is no way back to Earth. He tells them that there is adventure everywhere in this land.

Curly suddenly points out to Peter that his shadow is missing, thus leading into the events of the Original Peter Pan.

Cast

Production

Film production took place in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and Genoa, Italy.

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References
    1. Werts, Diane (November 30, 2011). "Neverland tale is all grown up". Newsday. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    2. Nancy deWolf Smith (December 2, 2011). "Lost Boys and Bad Girls". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    3. Serjeant, Jill (December 1, 2011). "Neverland gives fantasy twist to Peter Pan tale". Reuters. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    4. Bianco, Robert (December 2, 2011). "Syfy shows growth in Neverland miniseries". USA Today. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    5. R.J. Carter (December 2, 2011). "Interview: Charlie Rowe: Newest Peter Pan Flies High in Syfy's Neverland". The Trades. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    6. Kay, Janice (November 30, 2011). "Trailer for Neverland Movie Coming To Syfy This Weekend". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    7. Hale, Mike (December 2, 2011). "Peter Pan, Before the Magic". The New York Times. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    8. Hinckley, David (December 4, 2011). "Syfy's Neverland is a prequel to the Peter Pan story, set in Victorian London". Daily News. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
    9. Ng, Philiana (December 6, 2011). "Syfy's Neverland Starts Off on Good Ratings Note". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
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