London, WWII. Abandoned as an infant by his mother, Peter grows up in an orphanage run by the horrible Mother Barnabas. The only thing that gives him hope is his certainty that his mother will come back and get him someday. But one night, a band of pirates kidnaps all the children from the home and carries them off in a huge flying ship. It takes them to a magical island in the clutches of the cruel Blackbeard. In an attempt to become immortal, the evil pirate is trying to wipe out all the Indians on the island, as well as the last few surviving fairies. But what he doesn’t know is that Peter is the Chosen One who will liberate Neverland …

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In the wake of the successful Maleficent, the Sleeping Beauty reboot with Angelina Jolie, there was Cinderella, starring Cate Blanchett. In the pipeline are The Jungle Book, starring Scarlet Johansson, Beauty and the Beast, with Emma Watson and more to come. As part of this trend comes Pan, in 3D, an origin story about Peter Pan. This attempt at a blockbuster franchise by Joe Wright (Atonement, Hanna and Anne Karenina) succeeds only partly. With Hugh Jackman doing his best to channel Jack Sparrow, the movie brings out the heavy artillery for a madcap adventure swathed in special effects and color, punchlines and extravagant settings. What’s missing is originality and fun, as it tries, like all the rest, to mask a bland plot and superficial characters with a plethora of effects, lights and blinding stars. Audiences in the United States were not duped: it failed at the box office.