Sweeping in time from the turbulent seas of the pirates of the Caribbean to the back alleys of Dickensian London to a world of pure imagination, “Neverland” is the inspired origin story of one of the most cherished characters of all time… Peter Pan.

“Neverland” stars Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel, Charlie Rowe, Bob Hoskins, Charles Dance, Raoul Trujillo, Q’Orianka Kilcher, Cas Anvar and features the voice of Keira Knightley.

Peter (Rowe), along with his pals of young pickpockets, have been rounded up by their mentor Jimmy Hook (Ifans) to snatch a magical orb which transports them to another world – Neverland. Filled with white jungles and imposing cities formed out of trees created by Dr. Fludd (Dance) and inhabited by a colony of tree spirits led by Tinker Bell (Knightley), this mysterious realm welcomes unknown friends and enemies snatched from time. These include power-mad Elizabeth Bonny (Friel) and her band of 18th century pirates who search for the answer to eternal youth, a secret guarded by a Holy Man (Trujillo). As the fight to save this strange and beautiful world escalates, Peter and his crew consider that growing old somewhere in time could be less important than growing up—right here in their new home called Neverland.

If you’ve been dying to find out what Peter Pan and Hook were up to before they became the Peter Pan and Hook who we know and love them to be, Syfy has brought you the first origin story (written and directed by Nick Willing) in the format of a four hour mini series. It’s four hours of action, romance, tension, truth, pain… and fantasy. It’s quite magical, it is, but it’s the character development that is more intriguing.

I absolutely loved the Dickens inspired introduction of Peter, the Lost Boys, and their mentor, Hook which in turn leads them to Neverland. Discovering more about the other current inhabitants of Neverland was also quite a treat. Three cultures from three very different time periods along with fairies, giant spiders, and crocs collide on Neverland and it is in this world that has been created that we discover the higher budget this project had vs. Syfy original movies I will not name (because I love them anyway). The wardrobe is magnificent and Ireland is beautiful. The special effects are stellar for Syfy, though there are a few moments when you can tell it is green screen and/or a harness is being used. That can take you out of the moment but not for long.

An extraordinary world has been created here but even more engaging are the actors that bring this story to life. The casting is superb. Charlie Rowe is the perfect Peter. Rhys Ifans gives a depth to the character of Hook that will pleasantly surprise viewers. Hook’s struggle to be good or befriend evil is more fascinating than I ever thought. There is also a more prevalent bond between Peter and Hook here that really holds a lot of the story together. Anna Friel (“Pushing Daisies”) clearly had her fun playing a pirate and it shows. What a fantastic job Friel has done here. Q’orianka Kilcher as Aaya (part of the tribe) and Keira Knightley (voice of Tinkerbell) seem underused and when used, what transpires is not as significant as I initially anticipated. Bob Hoskins (Hook) is back as Smee and anyone could say that he was underused out of obvious bias, simply wanting to see more of him as Smee again. If you don’t get enough of him here, he’ll be in next year’s Snow White and the Huntsman . Stay tuned for that coming to theaters near you.

Of the Syfy mini series events giving a twist to our favorite tales, Tin Man remains to be my favorite of the bunch. I admit though, I have yet to see Alice. It is in my Netflix queue. But Tin Man beats Neverland for a number of reasons… one of which being that The Wizard of Oz is a much greater piece of my heart so naturally, Tin Man does too. Also, there’s not as much comic relief here. There really is no room. Neverland is a much darker take than what we’re used to when we think of Peter Pan but you have to go through the storm before Hook arrives. But no matter how great the story of Peter Pan is to you, you’ll want to check out the mini series that Syfy is going to deliver this week. What a piece.

Watch Neverland Part 1 TONIGHT at 9 pm and Part 2 on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 9pm only on Syfy.