Random Movie Review - Peter Rabbit

Well it was going to happen sooner or later. So many years ago, English writer Beatrix Potter gave us a series of books largely about a little rabbit and his friends who just want to invade a garden for food and to just wreck havoc. It was a very successful series of books so naturally Hollywood would catch up to it and make a film out of it. Which is all well and good until you realise that the same studio(s) also made The Emoji Movie. So yeah I had some doubts that this film would unlikely be any better than that rubbish. But I decided to give it the benefit of a doubt and go ahead with watching it. So let's see if its true to the source material or just a mess waiting to happen:

Set in the Lake District, we meet a group of rabbits lead by the titular Peter Rabbit (voiced by a man who clearly has no idea what he is doing in another Sony Pictures Animation film, James Corden) who often go to Joe McGregor (played by Jurassic Park's Sam Neill) to annoy him and take all his vegetables. Peter and his rabbit buddies befriend a local woman named Bea (played by funny lady who always seems to be frowning for some reason, Rose Byrne) who does paintings of the rabbits while also acting as a mother figure to them due to their parents having been killed by McGregor. When Joe McGregor suddenly dies from a heart attack, Peter and his friends take over his manor. But when Joe's grandnephew Thomas (played by the dictator that is General Hux, Domhnall Gleeson) arrives on the scene to inherit the house, Peter and his friends are forced out in which a war begins between the pair with a lot of things happening in the process.

While there are parts that remain faithful to the source material like at least one sequence that uses illustrations from the books in an animated form, Its not great. Some jokes go a bit too far and many are not that funny. The acting can also be seen as a bit weak and I do often wonder why some of these otherwise great actors decided to act in this film when they could be doing something better. The animation looks fine though even if it looks like the actors are pretending that the things are there. Obviously people who are purists to the book series may have some issues with the film, but its an OK film. Not the greatest of book adaptations out there and certainly not one that makes me want to buy it digitally or physically (I got the digital copy from a friend hence why I'm reviewing it). But its an OK flick that children will enjoy more than us grown ups and purists. 6/10