Steven Spielberg's "Hook" is one of his far-less loved films, and even Spielberg admitted he was disappointed with the final result. This is quite understandable: "Hook" begins as a great movie, but ends only as a good one. I looked forward to it: Robin Williams, my favourite actor, in a Steven Spielberg (my favourite director) film? Bring it on, said I! Let's throw clichés out the window for once. This is essentially a movie geared towards kids, so clichés are rightfully ignored. The movie asks the question: What if Peter Pan grew up? This has never been done before, and this is why the movie stands out: it isn't afraid to explore the unexplored.<br /><br />Robin Williams is perfectly cast as "Peter Banning" (who we all know, of course, is the grown-up Peter Pan). Bob Hoskins is positively brilliant as Mr. Smee, Captain Hook's right-hand man. He provides a lot of comic relief, which is fun to watch. Dustin Hoffman himself is a great Captain Hook. Hook is not a purely evil villain in this film, though. He is a comic villain, funny in a goofy kind of way (proof that "Hook" is aimed towards the kiddies more than anything). But Tinker Bell is poorly played by Julia Roberts, who played the character with an attitude, and unenthusiastically, and you can easily tell.<br /><br />The first, say, 25 minutes of "Hook" are brilliant: Williams is a workaholic who has no time for his kids, when they are kidnapped by the villainous Cap'n Hook. Granny Wendy (Maggie Smith) tries convincing him he is Peter Pan, and later that night, he is visited by Tinker Bell, who takes him to Neverland. This is when the movie stops being amazing, and becomes just "good".<br /><br />For once, I found a reason to criticize Spielberg's direction. He made a horrible directing choice when showing the first (non-bird's-eye view)shot of Neverland. I was expecting a breathtaking, sweeping, panoramic first view of Neverland (which is lush and green in my imagination). Instead, there was a confused muddle of an establishing shot. People, buildings, and ships are cluttered so close together, Neverland is revealed for what it is: nothing more than a movie set on a sound-stage.<br /><br />Another criticism I have is about The Lost Boys: none of them are very good actors at all. (This is not to say they're terrible, but they're quite amateurish.) And one of them is alarmingly obese, so much so that later on in the film, his body doubles as a boulder for bowling pirates over.<br /><br />And finally, the fight sequences are poorly choreographed, and the fencing is dull, nothing more than shuffle-thrust-shuffle-thrust, over and over again. Williams and Hoffman may be smashing actors, but they are probably poor fencers, to have their routines limited to such simple moves.<br /><br />One more thought: as with nearly every Spielberg movie, John Williams composed the music for "Hook". I'm a big fan of Williams' work, and looking back on the movie, his score was the absolutely brilliant highlight of the film. If you're going to watch Hook for anything, watch it for the music. Williams integrates his music marvellously with what is going on, and the music itself is beautiful: melodic, fun to listen to, and pleasing. His opulent and recurring theme for Captain Hook is one of those tunes that get stuck in your head and refuse to leavebut not in a bad way.<br /><br />In general, "Hook" is entertaining. However, it is one of Spielberg's more flawed movies. So why the 10/10? Maybe because this is a film that I truly enjoyed, even though its flaws stuck out a mile when I started writing the review. After all, what's wrong with a little dumb fun now and then?