Movie Review: Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit came out on February 9, 2018, and it’s still going strong. My best friend and I went to see it a few days after it came out and I was thoroughly impressed. I’ll keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but you may find a few hints and tid-bits here and there.

Something in particular that I appreciated was that the original portraits of Peter and his family from the Beatrix Potter books were portrayed. In the movie, the rabbits’ neighbor Bea (nice nod to Potter) is an artist and while working on her more interpretive art, she also paints illustrations of the rabbits. I just think that Bea and her paintings were not only a nice tie-in to the original story, but also a respectful way to represent Beatrix Potter’s work.

The movie opens by explaining some things about the rabbit family that the books and other animated portrayals never have: what happened to Peter’s family. We all know that old Mr. McGregor made Peter’s father into a pie. But this movie actually explains that the land used to be fair game to all animals and it was not until McGregor put a fence up that things became dangerous for the animals. It also explains that Peter’s mother is gone now, although no mention is made of cousin Benjamin Bunny’s parents; I assume that either they are gone as well, or in the rabbit world, he has come of age and chooses to live with his cousins.

Which brings us to the four siblings:

I do think that James Corden being the voice of Peter contributes largely to the movie’s success. From guest starring on Doctor Who to hosting the Late Late Show, Corden has proven to be an engaging character on his own, so it’s no wonder that his fantastic personality leaked into Peter. Peter’s humor, mannerisms, and wit were on point and I have no doubt that is because Corden was chosen to be his voice.

Flopsy – Margot Robbie
Mopsey – Elizabeth Debiki
Cotton-Tail – Daisy Ridley
Benjamin Bunny – Colin Moody

I greatly appreciated that each of the rabbits had their very own personalities. In previous tales, Flopsy, Mopsey, and Cotton-Tail have been lumped together, as if they are one character and have no value in Peter’s story. Here, however, they each have their own distinct character traits and are in fact very different from one another. Flopsey very much wants to be seen as the caregiver now that their mother is gone, Mopsey I think just wants to find her own particular gifts, and Cotton-Tail…well let’s just say you’re going to be surprised by this take on Cotton-Tail. And Benjamin Bunny, while labeled as Peter’s sidekick, is still very much aware of who he is and who he is responsible for in life. His gentle nature and tendency to be peacemaker is just the kind of grounding personality Peter needs in his life.

I liked the addition of Bea into the story; she is right away shown as the rabbits’ friend and a sort of adopted mother. You can also see that she clearly understands all her animal friends, even though she can’t understand what they say. She does, however, understand what Peter and his sisters have gone through and how much it means to them to get their garden back from old Mr. McGregor. I like Bea’s positive attitude and her will to see the good in everyone, but I also like that she is an independent woman, quite capable and able to make her own decisions. She knows that not everyone is going to like her art, but she keeps making it because it makes her happy. While it is not the foremost point in her personality, she is indeed strong of will and willing to fight for what she wants.

Which brings us to young Thomas McGregor. If a young lady such as Bea is in the movie, it makes sense that a younger man show up at some point, thus filling in the new plot point and giving older audience members a nice romance plot to follow. I won’t say why a new McGregor come on the scene, but what a great choice for a new character! First we see Thomas’ life in London – who he is, what he dreams of, what he wants most- then his decent into country life. The country is one of the things he despises; doesn’t sound very “Mr. McGregor,” does it? But as his affection for his lovely neighbor Bea grows, so does his love for his country surroundings.

But it’s not all “Love love love,” for Thomas. When he arrives to his great-uncle’s estate, he’s met by all manner of wildlife, trying to take back what they believe to be theirs. And the battle ensues. Led, of course, by our furry hero Peter.

I think that the character of Thomas was VERY well done, considering that he was an unexpected addition to the story! I thought I’d never seen this particular actor before, but just the same, something about him was familiar (Domhnall Gleeson). Finally it dawned on me: he also played Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter movies!

Thomas McGregor

Bill Weasley

To sum it up, I think the movie was very well done, and had just enough new surprises to freshen up an old story. There were not as many big changes as we saw in 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, where some huge plot twists were added, but there were enough to capture the entire audience’s attention, making it the family movie success that it has been.

I know there was some backlash about the “allergy bullying” so I’d just like to touch on that a bit:

The scene is Thomas explaining to Bea that he is allergic to blackberries and Peter says something to the effect of, “Really? Who is allergic to blackberries? Everyone is allergic to something these days!”

As a person with food allergies, I can’t honestly say I take offense here. If you have an allergy, you know that a lot of people get annoyed about our allergies; not so much with the “everyone is allergic nowadays” statement, but rather those people are likely more annoyed that they need to be careful around us. We are not convenient. We’re not something they are trained to think about on their own. And no, it wasn’t a particularly nice thing for Peter to say, but I can name (and I’m sure you can) plenty of “kid’s movies” where the parents end up walking out of the movie explaining SOMETHING their kids should not mimic.

What about the part where the rabbits try to bring Thomas down by shooting blackberries into his mouth? Allergy poisoning has indeed been used by movies before (see Mrs. Doubtfire) If anything, I appreciate that this is the first movie I’ve personally seen in which a character pulled an EppiPen out of his pocket, used it without showing any fear of it, and was perfectly fine after (though in truth you really do need to go to the hospital after). How many movies show kids how an EppiPen actually works? It’s not a big scary needle that’s hard to use; you pull the cap off, you pop it against your leg, and you can breathe again.

So is the allergy used against McGregor? Yes. Is it something you’ll need to talk to your kids about? Perhaps. Do I, with a severe nut allergy, take offense? Not a bit. So there’s my take on the Peter Rabbit boycott.

In my book, this movie gets a full five stars and I’ll be snatching up the DVD as soon as I can. It was funny, thoughtful, detailed, and the characters were all lots of fun! Bits of humor, both obvious and dry are sprinkled throughout the whole thing, making it one of my new cheer-me-up movies.

I also think the song at the very end, “I Promise You,” is a lovely touch – telling the whole movie’s story in song. And don’t forget to watch the credits! You don’t want to miss the scene where our narrator is reveled!

What were your thoughts on the movie? What were your favorite parts or characters? Were the new additions tasteful or just too unexpected?

Movie: PG, 1 hr, 35 mins. Watch the trailer.