I haven’t watched this movie since I was a little kid and my mom had it on the TV some weekend afternoon. So, it felt like a great fit for my little Sunday movie marathon, and even better for a Throwback Thursday review.

“Hook” was directed by Steven Spielburg and follows San Francisco corporate lawyer Peter Banning (Williams) who is so caught up in his job he’s dropping the ball in his real life. His wife Moira (Caroline Goodall) tries to get him to focus on his children Jack (Charlie Korsmo) and Maggie (Amber Scott). He does well with Maggie, attending her play “Peter Pan” but majorly drops the ball by missing Jack’s baseball game.

Soon enough the family is off to London to visit Moira’s grandmother Wendy (Maggie Smith), who is being honored for her work helping orphans. That includes Peter, who she took in as a pre-teen many years ago.

While the adults are away at an awards dinner, the unthinkable happens and the children are kidnapped. Peter comes home to find a note from Captain Hook (James Hoffman), inviting him to Neverland… a place he knows nothing about.

Later that night, Wendy tries to explain to him that the stories she and her siblings made up as children — which were later published by a neighbor — are real. She emphasizes to Peter that he is in fact the titular character of these stories, Peter Pan, who chose to leave Neverland and grow up.

Peter, of course, refuses to believe it no matter how much Wendy tells him he must go back to Neverland to confront Captain Hook and save his children.

The decision to go to Neverland is soon taken from him with the arrival of Tinker Bell (Julia Roberts). Despite Peter’s confusion, Tinker Bell kidnaps him and flies him to Neverland, dropping him right in Hook’s pirate haven.

After a run in with the dastardly pirate, his crew and sidekick Smee (Bob Hoskins), Peter finds himself with The Lost Boys. With the majority of them — especially new leader Rufio (Dante Basco) — refusing to believe their beloved friend chose to grow up and leave them behind.

Thanks to a deal Tinker Bell struck with Hook, Peter and the kids have three days to remind him of his origins and save Jack and Maggie.

It’s not really surprising to me that I would enjoy this rendition of Peter Pan’s story. It dives into some aspects of the character that hadn’t always been explored. And Williams, to no one’s surprise, navigates these layers of Peter’s character with ease.

He was always known as a comedic genius, but I think it can be lost on people how well he did when he had to be serious. And in “Hook” he often has to portray a wide range of emotions like grief, confusion, fear and anger, that you don’t necessarily see in his other films.

You watch him struggle to come to terms with this new reality, downright refusing at first and slowly adjusting until he’s almost forgotten his life back in the real world.

Hoffman’s Hook is perfect as well. He’s extravagant, silly at times but still a little scary — the perfect mixture of characteristics for a pirate that weirdly fights with a bunch of pre-teens.

The storyline overall is extremely fun to watch, too. It really is the perfect adventure story. It has pirate fights, high stakes and is set in a fantastical setting too.

Spielburg unsurprisingly did well with his directing, and he was supported well with a great cast and amazing practical effects. (I can’t help but continue to harp on how much I love practical effects in movies.)

If you haven’t watched “Hook” before, I’d highly suggest you give it a watch. It really does remind us all that we can’t let our inner child disappear. Sure, we’ve got to be adults and ensure our responsibilities are taken care of. But you also have to act a little silly, and never forget the importance of spending time with our loved ones.

“Hook” is rated PG and may be watched on Hulu, AMC+, Philo, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV and Vudu.

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Laura Jameson is Managing Editor of The Express.