Born to be wild.
This review contains spoilers. 

Peter Rabbit is directed by Will Gluck (Friends with Benefits); Gluck also assists on the script alongside Rob Lieber (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). The film features the voices of James Corden (Trolls), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) and Elizabeth Debicki (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2). Rose Byrne (Bad Neighbours) and Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) also star, but in live action form. "Feature adaptation of Beatrix Potter's classic tale of a rebellious rabbit trying to sneak into a farmer's vegetable garden". There are two routes this adaptation of "Peter Rabbit" can go down: It'll either be another Paddington or another Hop; let's hope it takes the rabbits from the latter and the terrific story-telling from the former.

There is not much to the story of Peter Rabbit; a long-running rivalry between Peter (and his woodland friends) and the McGregor family. This would make for an entertaining hour-long special but for a feature-length film? It's not a big enough story to tell. The narrative does move at an incredibly quick pace, maybe if the story was slowed down there would have been a chance to flesh it out? For example, the rabbits come up with clever traps in an attempt to defeat Thomas McGregor (Gleeson), but the audience only ever see the execution of these traps; there is no sign of preparation or even a scene where they come up with the plan (this could have easily been done with a montage). Peter Rabbit felt like it needed a couple of moments to allow the audience to stomach everything that was going on. For children though, this idea is genius as there is never a dull moment. The narrative becomes a little muddled during the third act as Peter comes to a realisation that Thomas and Bea (Byrne) have developed genuine feelings for each other; to save the day, Peter must reunite Thomas with Bea; I wasn't fully convinced by this. Thomas is villainised for the majority of the film and to me, there is nothing redeeming about him; he hates the rabbits, tries to kill them, and carelessly puts explosives within a close distance of Bea's house which, if activated accidentally, could destroy her home. Even though it was nice to see Bea's happiness fulfilled, it would have been even more satisfying if she stood up to Thomas (and his immature and foolish ways) and sent him back to London. I just cannot understand how the film expects the audience to suddenly like a character that has been portrayed as evil and wicked for practically the entire film, it is like this film was written for children. Oh, wait...it was.

Will Gluck and Rob Lieber are an odd combination. Gluck's previous work includes adult comedies such as Friends with Benefits and Easy A and Lieber is the writer of that family film about Alexander who has an awful day (simply put compared to that film's terribly long title). I have not seen Alexander but I believe Lieber was brought on to make a family movie while Gluck's job was to make a comedy. If this was the case, Gluck certainly did his job, but I'm not sure if the same can be said about Lieber. Peter Rabbit was hilarious! I laughed throughout; there were many memorable funny moments and lines. The film finds a good balance between physical and verbal comedy; the scenes where humans get electrocuted from attempting to open doors elicited laughs from everyone in the audience of all ages. There are plenty of jokes that adults will appreciate. Here are a few hints without spoiling some of the funniest moments: the cockerel, winking, and Peter's jokes towards his cousin, Benjamin Bunny (Colin Moody). Peter Rabbit succeeds in being a family-comedy; the laughs make up for the thin plot. This film has come under fire for portraying allergies in a distastefully comedic light. That is a whole different discussion, but I think the whole situation has been blown out of proportion; the film addresses that allergies should be taken seriously and Peter actually looks at the camera, breaking the fourth wall, stating that "we don't want any letters". In retrospect, now that it has caused such a controversy, it may have been a good idea to not include 'the blackberry scene' at all, but I doubt the writers were trying to cause offence.

A promising cast has been assembled for Peter Rabbit. However, just like in Trolls and The Emoji Movie, James Corden fails to separate his star identity from his character; Peter Rabbit is James Corden, James Corden is not Peter Rabbit. I found his voice quite distracting for the first act as all I could picture was James Corden in a recording booth. Corden has good comedic timing, being part of many of the film's funniest moments. The casting of James Corden as Peter Rabbit is much more along the lines of Russell Brand as E.B. in Hop rather than Ben Whishaw as the title character in Paddington; this film does make me appreciate Whishaw's performance even more. As a character, Peter is a mischevious, strong-minded rabbit. Despite being a born-leader, he always looks out for his peers. However, like all of the characters in the film, Peter does not have a clear character arc or at least one that seems natural. The rest of the voice cast is underused but there are a couple who manage to make an impression. I was delighted to find out that Margot Robbie technically has two roles in this film; she is the narrator and also voices Flopsy. As the narrator, Robbie uses a warm tone and delivers her lines compellingly. As Flopsy, Robbie uses a distinctively different voice; she successfully disguises herself and only keen viewers will spot that the narrator and Flopsy are voiced by the same person. Daisy Ridley sounds like Daisy Ridley but she does a nice job. Elizabeth Debicki is also good. The three sisters have a running joke throughout the film about who is the eldest; a very witty commentary on the endless reproduction process of rabbits. Domhnall Gleeson is convincingly wicked as the film's villain and Rose Byrne is warm and likeable, doing as much as she can with a generic character.

My favourite thing about Peter Rabbit was the use of 2D water-colour animation (in the style of the classic Beatrix Potter tales) to tell the story of Peter's childhood. This moment was very nostalgic for me, I grew up with an older sister who loved Beatrix Potter's woodland creatures, so this segment felt familiar (in the best way possible). My middle name is also Benjamin, picked by my sister and named after Benjamin Bunny. It would have been a missed opportunity for Peter Rabbit not to do something like this, I am so glad it did. The CG animals were well realised; I've seen slightly better, but I've also seen a lot worse. The interactions with the humans were always believable and every creature looked cute; I'm sure that is all the animators were going for. The cinematography as a whole could have been stronger, British countryside looks even more beautiful than this film portrays. I always enjoy a film set in modern London as seeing 'Britishness' captured on screen is always heart-warming, even though it is always stereotype-ridden. Peter Rabbit does not feel as authentically British as Paddington, but it was still nice to see London and British countryside represented in a Hollywood film. The music choices were very prominent; they often got in the way of some scenes with a popular song distracting me from the actual scene - Portugal. The Man's 'Feel it Still' and Rachel Platten's 'Fight Song' are examples of this but were fun choices.

Peter Rabbit moves at a fast pace, sacrificing story and character development for lots of mischevious and fun shenanigans. Consequently, the film lacks depth, heart and a clear message. However, Peter Rabbit is light-hearted entertainment with many hilarious moments (for both young and older viewers). James Corden does not quite lose himself in the character yet still delivers the comedy well (this will not bother younger audiences). Margot Robbie, Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson and Rose Byrne are all parts of a very fine supporting cast; Gleeson and Robbie especially, which is odd because they recently starred in a film together about another cartoon animal (Goodbye Christopher Robin). For all of its flaws, Peter Rabbit is serviceable, family entertainment. It is definitely low-brow but is elevated with some (brief) nostalgic styling choices. Peter Rabbit is the best film I have seen about a talking rabbit.