There’s a certain irony regarding Hollywood’s fascination with J. M. Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who doesn’t grow up, considering Tinsel town is mostly run by men.

This latest interpretation comes from US director David Lowery, with his own take on the goings-on in Neverland.

Spending one last night of fun with her younger brothers in their London home is Wendy (Ever Anderson). She’s soon off to boarding school, which will be part of her introduction into adulthood proper.

But as they’re playing, they interrupted by a visitor, someone they’ve all read stories about, one Peter Pan (Alexander Molony). He has come to take them on a great adventure, as he transports them all to Neverland.

It’s a rough arrival for them all, as they are met by a hostile bunch of pirates, led by the notorious Captain Hook (Jude Law). He has a vendetta against Pan, and so by association, now the Darling family too, so this promised adventure already looks like it’s going to be full of ups and downs for them all.

It’s fair to say that Peter Pan is one of cinema’s enduring characters, with a growing number of film adaptations under his belt. We have reached a point now however, with his lore so well known, that any new iteration really needs to bring something new to the table. And although it’s clear as to what Lowery’s intentions were for the character, he's not entirely successful in bringing them to fruition.

In Lowery’s script, which he also co-wrote, he attempts to get to the heart of the matter, and reveal what is the beef between Pan and Hook and how it first materialised. It’s an interesting stance to take, that’s dealt with what can be seen as a more mature tone, but it doesn’t go far enough. In fact, you could say that the film itself suffers from a bout of Peter Pan syndrome, with its own struggle to be more grown up, despite its obvious keeness to do so.

Lowery certainly gives it a more earthy visual palette, not a million miles away from the look of his The Green Knight, full of greens and browns and a long way from colourful children’s picture books.

But for whatever reason, he keeps being pulled back to standard family fair, with what you would expect from a Peter Pan film, with a comfortable level of danger between Hook and his pirates, and the Darlings and Pan. It’s familiar territory for a Disney film, and because of this, it does feel as if Lowery had restraints on which he just couldn’t break free from.

It’s a shame as there are hints of Pan having a darker, selfish side, intimating that he had more to do with the bad blood between himself and Hook than meets the eye. And it’s this ambiguity towards the morals of this classic character that would have been worth investigating further, but you get the impression that would just wander into areas that Disney just wouldn’t be comfortable with.

Although the director gets some great performances, especially from an on form Law, and a superb turn by young Anderson as Wendy, he misses the mark with one central character – Pan himself.

The young Molony certainly looks the part, looking very dapper in his green attire, but there’s one important ingredient missing between his Pan and Wendy – chemistry. There just isn’t any. When the two share the screen they do so as two separate entities, lacking any kind of bond or relationship. That’s certainly not ideal when both are titular characters of your film.

It’s the kind of film that makes you wonder what it could have been if Lowery had made it without its ties to Disney; you can’t help but feel it would have been a less generic version than sadly exists here.

Yes, it’s told more from Wendy’s perspective, and yet it still doesn’t wander far from the original story that has been told a number of times before.

It’s playful and has a certain warmth, but it could have been more bold and vibrant, and just lacks an extra sprinkling of fairy dust for some much need magic.