Greetings friends! Once again, it's your favorite(?) BuzzFeed writer coming at you with another unnecessarily passionate post about a '90s movie that I absolutely love and personally believe deserves more attention in the year 2020.*
While I've done a few of these now, this post is special. Today, I'm here to defend the 1991 classic Hook, one of my absolute favorite movies. Period. No exaggeration. This is easily in my top five favorite films of all time, and I went to a very pretentious film school. I incurred a lot of debt while arguing with people about this movie's merit, SO Y'ALL GONNA LISTEN.
That said, here are just a FEW of the reasons why I, personally, believe Hook is one of the greatest — if not THE greatest — films ever made. Here we go:
1. Let's start with the obvious...Robin Freakin' Williams is the lead and he's literal perfection.
2. He consistently balances a tone of both childlike humor and adult seriousness, and it's a verifiable joy to watch.
3. How he didn't even get NOMINATED for an Academy Award for this film will never cease to confuse me???
4. Overall, this cast and crew is the definition of STACKED. It was literally directed by STEVEN "YOU'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT" SPIELBERG and stars MAGGIE "PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL" SMITH.
5. Also, fun fact: Julia Roberts invented the pixie cut as Tinkerbell. Don't fact check that.
6. Plus, there are mermaids in this movie?! LIFE-SAVING MERMAIDS, BARBARA.
Look at that hair. This was before Instagram and TikTok, y'all.
7. And do not even get me STARTED on our villains, Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) and Smee (Bob Hoskins). They are THE BEST incarnation of these two characters EVER committed to film.
8. Their onscreen chemistry is undeniable, and it's positively iconic.
9. And the way Hook and Peter interact with each other when they finally meet again after all those years? Hilarious. Perfect. 11/10.
10. Then, when they face each other at the end of the film? Fuck yes. YEAH, I SAID IT. FUCK. YES.
11. Still, we all know the real star of the film is Rufio (Dante Basco), who also happens to be the coolest character ever in the history of forever.
12. And, thanks to Rufio, this film also features one of the most iconic scenes of all time, fight me.*
View this video on YouTube
*But also, please don't. I am soft.
13. Seriously, did you know Hook invented being "owned," because it definitely did? Don't fact check that one either.
IMDB Trivia - Hook (1991) - Peter calling Rufio a “lewd crude rude bag of pre-chewed food dude” is the first known example of a character being “owned” onscreen
14. Their back-and-forth is one of the most quotable, aggressively '90s sequences in any movie.
just realized Robin Williams called Rufio a "near sighted gynecologist" in Peter Pan what a baller what the fuck
15. And if you say you didn't cry when Rufio and Peter crowed together in mutual respect, you're a liar.
16. Speaking of crying...and also SPOILERS for an almost 30-year-old movie: The fact that we lose Rufio at the end is unforgivable and I have not recovered.
17. Like, even beloved comedian Jenny Slate isn't over it.
I know it's not important anymore or especially right now but it's still crazy to me that Rufio gets killed. Also: the son's pirate outfit
18. Finally, name a better last line in a film than this. Spoilers: You can't. There isn't one. It's perfection. Give it all the awards.
So there ya have it. This movie is perfect and deserves to be remembered as such. And — as luck would have it — you can actually stream it right now, this very second, on Netflix! GO WATCH IT, YOU LUDE CRUDE RUDE BAG OF PRE-CHEWED FOOD DUDE!
