Peter Rabbit Review: It's Adorable, Adventurous and Hilarious. A Must Watch Film!

As you will probably know, my daughter loves rabbits and Peter Rabbit is kind of a big thing in our house. You may remember my daughter's bedroom updates, where our daughter had pretty much outgrown most of her furniture and asked for Peter Rabbit theme throughout her bedroom. It wasn't long after that we were able to venture into the magical of Beatrix Potter and her many tales about rabbits, a naughty squirrel and puddle ducks. So it comes to no surprise that my little lady and her Peter Rabbit obsession was kicked up a notch or five when she discovered the film trailer of Peter Rabbit The Movie. And I must admit, I was too. 


* Warning Peter Rabbit fans, this post may contain spoilers*

Peter Rabbit tells the story of a rabbit and his family who are always sneaking into Mr. McGregor's garden to steal his vegetables. Peter Rabbit brings back so many fond memories of childhood for so many of us. It's hard to imagine a childhood without Beatrix Potter. Her magical tales of enchanted woodland creatures have been read to generations of children, and remain – even today – as one of the most cherished children's literacy creations of all time. So you can see why so many people were a little apprehensive about the release of a new adaption of the loved Beatrix Potter tale. I wasn't too sure if I was ready too see Peter Rabbit lose his sweetness and charm of Beatrix Potter and turn into a rascal, rebel rabbit.

However, there was absolutely no reason to worry. Peter Rabbit was the perfect blend of laughter, mischief while still depicting the magical tales of the enchanted and very cherished character. Peter Rabbit is absolutely adorable, funny, so mischievous and can sometimes take things a little to far, being the rascal rabbit he is. I must admit, it was the perfect modern version of Peter Rabbit. 

Come on, seriously how cute is he?
The Story

The visual effects are simply, outstanding. It starts with a sweet shot of CGI birds breaking into song, only to be immediately silenced by Peter Rabbit (James Corden) bursting through the scene, you're immediately hooked! You can tell that this is a sequel from the books and Cbeebies animated version and time has moved on. Peter Rabbit, his cousin Benjamin, and his triplet sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, spend most of their days picking on Mr. McGregor and stealing vegetables from his garden. We soon discover that they are also friends with a local women named Bea (Rose Byne) who spends her time painting pictures of the rabbits as well as the surrounding nature. You get the impression that Bea has taken on a mother like relationship with the rabbits since the death of their mother and they also mention about Peter's father being captured and put in a rabbit pie, all in front of a young Peter. 


One day Peter leaves his jacket back in McGregor's garden (doesn't he ever learn) and goes back to retrieve it. Mr. McGregor spots and catches him, but suddenly dies of a heart attack. I must admit I wasn't really expecting that and trying to answer questions from my three year old as to why Mr McGregor is laying down was not something I wanted to explain in a full cinema. However after Mr. McGregor gets taken away in an 'Icecream van with blue lights' Peter then takes it upon himself to celebrate and invite all his woodland friends for a feast and take over Mr McGregor house creating quite the mess. 

Meanwhile in London, McGregor's nephew Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) works at the Harrod's department store where he awaits for a promotion. And discovers the news about his uncle's death and doesn't seem too bothered and is more concerned with not getting the promotion, leading to a complete meltdown and gets fired. When he learns that his uncle's house is valuable, he decides to make plans to refurbish and sell the farm so he can start his own toy store next to Harrod's. As he makes his way to the house he is repulsed by the mess and assumes that his uncle made the mess, then all of a sudden Peter and his woodland friends come out from hiding and run. Thomas then crashes out and wakes up to the mess from the night before realising that it wasn't a dream and begins cleaning. However, soon enough he discovers his neighbour Bea an artist who loves all the animals and asks Thomas to leave the gate open for them to go in freely to pick the vegetables, and handed him a gift of some binoculars. You could say that Thomas and Peter got off on the wrong foot and it's clear that Peter has a problem with the friendship that Bea and Thomas have and hatches a plan because Thomas 'has got to go'. 

That's where the fun started. Thomas and Peter start a war with each other by setting up traps and other offensive nuisances. In the midst of all the traps and tricks Thomas and Bea end up falling in love with each other which causes Peter to become jealous and wanting to separate them even more. So much so, they both end up fighting whilst trying to avoid the wrath of Bea finding out that they actually hate one another. The fight soon gets out of hand and Peter angers Bea when he unintentionally ruins her painting and she throws Peter out of the house. Their hatred for each other is kicked up a gear or two as Thomas seeks out other measures to get rid of the rabbits and throws dynamite into Peter's burrow. In doing so, he tries to hide his plans from Bea and continues to be dishonest with her, until Peter detonates the dynamite to prove to Bea that Thomas was using it. However, his actions have awful consequences as the explosion destroys his burrow and the tree on top of the burrow crashes onto Bea's art studio leaving her with no choice but to break up with Thomas, who goes back to London to work for Harrod's again. 

Peter feels so bad for his behaviour, even Benjamin Bunny couldn't forgive him this time, he had taken it too far. Peter then discovers that Bea is planning on leaving the countryside and he and Benjamin join forces to go and get Thomas from London. A quick tour of London with a London street rat they soon find themselves at Harrod's in pursuit of Thomas, and with encouragement they were all on their way back to the countryside. Peter tells Bea that it was him that detonated the dynamite and says sorry in the cutest way possible. But this is all short lived when Thomas forgot that he sold the house and so will need a little help to chase the buyers out of the house, now this is most definitely Peter and his friends territory. All is well between the rabbits and between Thomas and Bea. Yay!!! During the end credits, it is shown that Bea, Thomas, and the rabbits eventually moved to London together where Thomas has his own toy shop and Bea begins to write and illustrate books based on Peter and his friends.

Final Thoughts

This is a must see! It's perfect for families who love Peter Rabbit, it will make you laugh, probably cry, but most of all, you will fall in love and want to watch it again. So if you're a fan of Beatrix Potter and of course the mischievous Peter Rabbit then you must, actually, you need to go and see this. Peter Rabbit The Movie was the perfect blend of laughter, mischief while still depicting the magical tales of the enchanted and very cherished character. Peter Rabbit is absolutely adorable, funny, so mischievous and can sometimes take things a little to far, being the rascal rabbit he is. I must admit, it was the perfect modern version of Peter Rabbit. Our daughter has never really been to the cinema before seeing Peter Rabbit, as we wasn't too sure if her attention span as a three year could sit there for 90 minutes or more. But she was completely mesmerized and this film kept her full attention throughout, without meltdowns or any toilet breaks. I must admit, the film was far funnier than I expected, I mean come on have you ever seen a rabbit twerk? I found myself laughing quite a bit. My daughter's favourite parts were the wild parties at Mr McGregor's house. But she also like the part of the film where this rebel rascal rabbit decided to be cheeky and place a carrot in Mr McGregor's visible builder's bottom! What a cheeky rabbit! It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon as a family, and you'll be surprised at how much you'll laugh. It's adorable, adventurous and hilarious. It's a must watch film. Will you go and see Peter Rabbit? Or have you seen it already? I'd love to know what your thoughts?

18 comments

  1. I really want to see this! Tyler is only one but I think he’d enjoy it! I might wait until it comes out on dvd or Netflix so that we can watch it at home though as he’s not the quietest movie watcher haha! x

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  2. aw im glad everyone enjoyed it!

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  3. What a fantastic experience, my ovua can't wait to watch thus when time comes out on dvd! X #bloggersbest

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  4. I really want to see this. I think my girls and I will be having a trip to the cinema over the Easter holidays. It sounds like you had a fab time x #bloggersbest

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  5. My mum keeps nagging me to go and see this with her, it does actually sound really good!

    Gemma Louise

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  6. Aw, I love that your daughter is a big fan of all things Peter Rabbit. I really want to see this movie too so I'm glad to hear you both were fans!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  7. I loved the story when I was younger! Looks like such a great experience!

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  8. I am so excited to see this with my youngest daughter. She adores Peter Rabbit. My oldest watched it last week with her friends and said she cried during part of it, bless her x

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  9. This looks fab and is definitely on our list of things to be done in the Easter holidays x I'm glad you all enjoyed it

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  10. Oh I really want to see this now! x

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  11. I really want to see it... My 5 year old isn't bothered though. Please tell me it was your daughter who came up with the "Ice cream van with blue lights" - that made me laugh. I had heard that it was a bit more grown up than the CBeebies version though.

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  12. Eloise saw this yesterday and loved it! Xx

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  13. This sounds like a really good movie for littles. We still haven't taken my son to the cinema and really must get around to it, might look into this for the weekend. Would be a perfect Easter treat! x

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  14. I've always loved Beatrix Potter stories, so I think this is a must-see for me. My boys were never really into Peter Rabbit, I wonder if I introduced it a bit too late to them, but they are keen to see the movie as the trailers look so good! I'm glad your little lady enjoyed it.

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  15. Awe your daughter is sooo cute! I hope you both had a good time watching the movie! Xx

    http://get-ready-with-laura.blogspot.de

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  17. I love rabbits and i like. i think that is wonderful and rabbits are at the same time interactive and quiet pets. Rabbit Expert

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