Peter Rabbit

Peter Rabbit (2018) turns Beatrix Potter's characters into a contemporary action comedy. When old McGregor dies the garden passes to his nephew, a tidy obsessive from London with no patience for rabbits. A war over the garden begins and keeps escalating. The film moves deliberately away from Potter's register. The books are calm, measured and close to nature; the film is fast, loud and set to pop songs. That choice is what readers objected to most. The controversy around it is separate. In one scene the rabbits pelt McGregor, who is allergic to blackberries, with berries; one goes into his mouth and he goes into anaphylaxis and has to use an EpiPen. Allergy organisations in several countries objected to bullying being presented as comedy. Sony issued an apology, saying it sincerely regretted not being more aware and sensitive to the issue. The critic Robbie Collin put the problem well: it is not that allergies cannot be comic, it is that the scene makes Peter an irredeemably nasty piece of work. It cost 50 million dollars and grossed 351.3 million worldwide. It runs 93 minutes. Good for: family comedy, live action mixed with animation, and pace. Less good for: for readers of Potter the tone is entirely foreign. The slapstick violence is heavy and what the characters do to each other is not something you want copied.