Back in 1991, Steven Spielberg came something of a cropper when he dug into the story of Peter Pan, and tried to establish what happened once everyone had grown up. Neverland has a lot more luck going the other way, though. It sets its story before the well known adventures of Peter Pan, and tries to find out just how he became who he was.

To do this, it moves the story back to the start of the twentieth century, and crucially, pulls in a really impressive cast. Writer and director Nick Willing has brought together Charlie Rowe as Peter, along with Bob Hoskins as Smee--reprising the role he played in the aforementioned Hook. Then there's Anna Friel, Charles Dance, Keira Knightley voicing Tinkerbell, and Rhys Ifans stealing any scene he's let near as James Hook. It's Ifans who you long to see as much of on the screen, and Neverland doesn't disappoint. He does the role proud.

This release sees the original mini-series brought together in one, and it's all the better for it. It's a rollicking adventure, with its ambitions firmly in entertaining a family audience. What's particularly impressive is that it finds interesting things to do with a bunch of characters familiar to most, if not all, of us to some extent. And, more than that, that familiarity adds to the fun. An excellent family adventure, with good, broad appeal. --Jon Foster