Captain Hook, as you probably know, is the nefarious villainous pirate enemy of Peter Pan, from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan
stories. While there have been 23 incarnations of Captain Hook (according to the trusty IMDb), there are arguably three main portrayals of Captain James T. Hook that are indelibly embedded in our collective psyche:
From left to right: Disney's Captain Hook voiced by Hans Conried in Peter Pan (1953), Dustin Hoffman in Hook (1991) and Jason Isaacs in Peter Pan (2003).
Since the first character is a cartoon, I don't think it counts. Not that voicing a character doesn't count, but for our purposes, I can't really pick apart his performance, since at least 50% of it was done by other people. So we are left with two: Jason Isaacs and Dustin Hoffman.
This is a big, big problem. These are both amazing actors.
First, Dustin Hoffman. Won 2 Oscars. Another 46 wins & 24 nominations. 7 times he's been nominated for an Oscar, won twice. That's a lot. He was actually also nominated for a Golden Globe for this role.
Personally, I think Jason Isaacs is highly underrated. Maybe this is the Harry Potter geek in me, but I just think he is awesome. He's been nominated for only 9 awards in his career, none of them were for his Captain Hook portrayal.
But, let's look at how they compare to the actual description from J.M. Barrie's original vision. Here's how Hook is described in the original story:
"In person he was cadaverous and blackavized* and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at a little distance looked like black candles and gave a singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two read spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly. He was never more sinister than when he was most polite."
So let's look at this, 6 points: cadaverous, threatening, handsome, profound melancholy [in his eyes], sinister, polite.
As far as the "look" of Captain Hook, I actually think Jason Isaacs wins this. Honestly, who's more threatening: the guy who played Lucius Malfoy, or the Rain Man?
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| Edit: I neglected to mention the Lord Felton is one of the evil henchmen in Dragonheart. |
Still not convinced? OK, how about their voices? Which is more sinister and threatening- the voice behind Ras al Ghul- Batman's nemesis and the leader of the League of Shadows, or Master Shi Fu?
I think I have made my point. Jason Isaacs is the more threatening, intimidating and evil looking Hook.
But there is more to Hook than just the appearance of evil. James Hook is really a bad, bad man. He kills one of his men for tripping (while carrying Hook on a carriage). Kills him without pausing, looking at the man or taking the cigar out of his mouth. Wow. That is ruthless. Jason Isaacs character doesn't kill anybody, and Dustin Hoffman kills Rufio. And honestly, the man who would steal another man's child is bone chilling. I think Dustin Hoffman wins this one.
And only Dustin Hoffman professes to have "good form", or the sinister politeness spoken of. While Hook is certainly underhanded, he only professes to be polite, and Isaacs doesn't even cross this path.
The last part of Captain Hook's character is the melancholy, and manic psychosis when he kills. For me, this one goes to Jason Isaacs all the way. The scene where he first wakes up from his drunken stupor is sooooo creepy. He shows a softer, human side underneath all the Hookiness, when Hoffman really gives us a more developed sense of vengeance and ruthlessness.
So, of our 6 points to consider, Isaacs wins 4 of them (cadaverous, threatening, handsome & melancholy) while Hoffman wins the other 2.
This makes me happy. Jason Isaacs wins!
How's that for an unexpected outcome? As much as I think Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook is BRILLIANT, I do think that Jason Isaacs is more true to the original character written by J.M. Barrie.
*this is just an old word that meant to have a long, wild beard and dark skin.
Agree? Disagree? Post your thoughts in the comments?
Images: Google Images
