MOVIE REVIEW- Peter Rabbit

I’ve been kinda sick this past week, so I’ve been vegging out in my bed since like Thursday. Today, I was feeling a little better (at least, I didn’t feel like my chest was on fire and my head was going to explode) and I felt like getting out of the apartment. I decided to head to the cheap theater near my apartment and check out Peter Rabbit.

I’ll be honest, when I first saw the trailer for this, I was like “oh, it’s gonna be one of those movies.” You know, high in slapstick, not a lot of plot, aimed directly at kids with a lot of stupid jokes (butt/fart jokes, “modern lingo”, etc.), and more focus on high-paced action/animation to get the kids’s attention than anything else. I was definitely getting like Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks vibes from the trailer. Despite my initial analysis, I still kind of wanted to check it out eventually. I certainly didn’t want to pay full price and I wasn’t even sure if I’d see in in the cheap theater. I just figured I’d get around to it one day. (The one thing I am truly ashamed of is that I am seeing this movie before Black Panther! What have I become?)

Well, today was that day. So, was it the total throwaway kids film I initially thought it would be?

Well... yes and no. 

It definitely had a lot of slapstick and a very simple plot with a sort of convoluted moral and lots of cliches (very “kids movie”-like). However, the jokes were actually a lot more solid than I expected. I wouldn’t quite call them all “sophisticated”, but there were actually some pretty well thought-out jokes in there. They didn’t blindly go for the butt jokes or toilet humor. There were hardly any “modern” references in an effort to “be cool” and “make a connection” with the young crowd. In other words, it wasn’t cringey and dating itself. There were a couple pop culture references, but not a ton and nothing all that cringey or over the top.

To be honest, I expected to chuckle a bit, roll my eyes a lot, and smirk at other parts, then just maybe get one big laugh at one or two points. To my surprise, I was laughing through the majority of it. Like, legitimately laughing out loud (it was really kicking up my cough in the theater). It was definitely on my level of humor (and when I say that, I mean my immature side). It may have been a personal preference, because I’ve always enjoyed slapstick, but the thing with slapstick is that it’s shockingly difficult to get right. It’s more than just falling on your rear and making a funny face, it’s all about  perfect timing and reactions. 

A lot of kids films go for slapstick because its the “easy” humor that most people find funny. But the thing is, they never quite get it right; it’s always so standard and it feels like something is off. It’s just never that funny. 

However, I think that this movie really hit the nail on the head with its physical humor. It really got back to the basics, but they were done in just the right way that it got me almost every time. On the downside, quite often the joke would be repeated so many times that it would stop being funny (for example, Mr. McGregor gets shocked by the electric fence and it's actually really funny, but then it happens again and again and again; and with each time, it sort of looses its humor and gets tiring.)

But as I said earlier, it was more than just the slapstick; a lot of the jokes were legitimately funny. I kept cracking up at the running joke with the rooster crowing in the morning (that was probably my favorite joke in the movie). I also really liked, the other running joke about Mr. McGregor always coming back to life. The thing is with most of the jokes was that you would see a lot of them coming, but they were still funny. 

I also appreciated the little fourth wall breaks where the characters would criticize proper story writing and character development (but that’s just me because that’s what I study).

Of course, there were some dumb moments too, don’t get me wrong, but overall, I found it legitimately hilarious.

But enough on the humor. Was there anything else of merit? Well, it was very aesthetically pleasing. I loved the color pallet of the entire movie. Not to mention the costumes and the sets. I just really liked the look of the film. It makes me want to go to the English countryside now.
I have to talk about how realistic the animation on the rabbits were too. I don't really have much to say except for I was impressed. They weren't super cartoony or anything, they looked like actual anthropomorphic rabbits.

I also thought that the characters were surprisingly well written. The plot was a little convoluted and cliche at times, but I really liked how the characters were written. I liked that the antagonist wasn’t really a “bad guy”, he was just pushed to his limit and did bad things. Then Peter and his friends all had their issues that they had to work through which clashed with Mr. McGregor. They all remained very consistent too which isn’t always seen in kids movies where often times they’ll do weird things out of character in order to fit the plot. I applaud this movie for simple, but still enjoyable characters. 
I really appreciated that the human characters weren't glossed over and one-dimensional like they tend to be in these types of movies. They were actually quite interesting and at times, I was almost more invested in them than the rabbits. I thought Domhnall Gleeson in particular actually did a very good job with his character. He did more than just react to the whacky stuff going on around him, but actually made him interesting (although, why did he hate rabbits so much? It was never really answered.)

Granted, there were a few strange things. Like what was the moral? “Lying and manipulating your loved ones is wrong”? “You need to share your love with others even if you don’t like them”? “Don’t be selfish”? I’m not really sure. 

It had a “liar reveal” story which is always a drag if not done well (and I don’t think it really was here. It wasn’t done badly, but just the fact that it was there was a drag.). 

And could the rabbits talk? If they couldn’t actually talk, then why could they do all those crazy things and understand the humans? I don’t know. It got a little weird and confusing at times, but whatever.

Also, it got really dark at some points. Like SUPER dark. I mean (kinda SPOILER alert? but I think its in the book), you see the old Mr. McGregor straight up murder their dad with a hoe and put him in a pie. Like, dang! And that's not the only moment, there were a couple parts scattered throughout that are just a sudden 180 on the tone of the movie and you're like "holy geez! What am I watching?"

So to sum up, the movie surprised me with how funny it was, I found it quite enjoyable, it was moderately written, there were some weird parts, but overall I thought it was a good watch. It certainly exceeded my expectations (though, to be fair, they were not very high). I don’t regret seeing it and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again (though I probably wouldn’t pay money for it). I could see it becoming one of my guilty pleasure movies like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Kind of stupid and weird, but I find it endearing and hilarious (also based on one of my childhood books). 

In the end, I’d give it a 6.5/10.

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