Pan gets panned in early reviews

It's a story beloved by many but it seems the tale of Peter Pan is one which has now been told too many times.

A new origin story for JM Barrie's boy who wouldn't grow up is yet to hit New Zealand theatres but it already looks like the big budget film could be a flop.

Pan is getting panned in early reviews with top critics calling the film "an awfully awful adventure" with "hideous visuals" and a half-baked, clichéd plot.

Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Anna Karenina), Pan is classed as "rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes with a 50 per cent approval rating.

MetaCritic has rated it even lower, with a score of just 37 out of 100.

Pan tells the story of Peter, a small boy in a World War II-era London orphanage whisked away to Neverland by an evil pirate (not Hook, although he does appear as Pan's two-handed ally), only to discover he is the half-boy half-fairy child prophesied to save the magical universe.

The biggest gripe among critics was with this clichéd storyline.

"Pan winds up wallowing in two of the current cinema's most tired storylines: the Chosen One/Reluctant Messiah and the Boy Who Must Learn To Believe in Himself. Ugh," writes Alonso Duralde at The Wrap.

Variety's Andrew Barker says Wright has imbued the film with "the most hackneyed of contemporary fantasy-action tropes," calling it a "bungled bust" lacking in light heartedness and fun.

There is also the issue of Rooney Mara being cast as Tiger Lily, a Native American princess.

Wright copped flack for the casting decision when it was announced and the film's release is likely to see criticism rear its head again, says The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy.

The kidnapping pirate and film's villain is Blackbeard, played by Aussie actor Hugh Jackman.

Jackman, who usually has a good grasp on how to play campy characters to perfection, has received mixed reviews for his performance.

"Jackman never finds an appropriate balance between humor and menace; his villain is just annoying and creepy," says Duralde, although others reviewed him favourably.

Duralde also takes issue with the movie's visuals, saying Pan switches between looking "sickly and washed-out (during which it resembles one of those grim period pieces where all the characters have syphilis)" and "blindingly prismatic (with rainbows shooting helter-skelter all over the screen)."

Robbie Collins at The Telegraph was more forgiving in his review, calling Pan "a rollicking story of its own" which doesn't get bogged down in setting the stage for the well-known story which comes next.

Pan is scheduled for release on October 1 in New Zealand.

- nzherald.co.nz