Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) review

Ever since he made his feature-length directorial debut in 1985 with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Tim Burton has proven himself to be one of the most visually unique filmmakers in the entire film industry. Thanks to big hits like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and his two Batman films, he’s become well-known for his dark and quirky gothic style. And even though some of his more recent films haven’t exactly fared as well with critics, including the remakes that he did of films like Planet of the Apes and Alice in Wonderland, he’s still very much one of those directors whose films are always worth checking out just to see what he does next. For his latest film, Burton takes on a very Burton-esque kind of story that some might describe as a cross between Harry Potter and X-Men; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The film is based on a 2011 book of the same name by author Ransom Riggs, who was inspired by a series of vintage photographs that he had been collecting over the years. Originally intended to be released as a picture book, Riggs instead decided to use these photographs and craft a story about a series of children with extraordinary powers or, to be more precise, ‘peculiar’ powers. The book became a big hit and has since led to two sequels, 2014’s Hollow City and 2015’s Library of Souls. Five years later, it now spawns a feature film directed by the one and only master of the macabre himself, Tim Burton. And while it ultimately may not be one of his ‘best’ films, it’s still a solidly entertaining film that highlights Burton’s talents as a director, especially in terms of visuals.  

As the film begins, 16-year old Jacob Portman (Asa Butterfield) is suddenly dealt with the tragic loss of his grandfather Abraham (Terence Stamp). When he was younger, Jacob’s grandfather always used to tell him stories about a group of children with extraordinary abilities (or ‘peculiarities’ as they’re referred to in the film) living on an island in Wales being looked after by a woman named Miss Peregrine. Given the mysterious circumstances surrounding his grandfather’s death, Jacob convinces his parents to let him travel to the island so that he can seek ‘closure’ and find out whether or not his stories were true. Once he gets there, Jacob does end up coming across the children his grandfather told him about and they take him to their home, where he meets their protector, Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). Jacob learns that because those with ‘peculiarities’ are often frowned upon by others, Miss Peregrine and her children live in a peaceful abode away from the outside world, with Miss Peregrine having the ability to keep them within a closed time loop that has them reliving the same day over and over again safe from harm. However, the peaceful lives of the ‘Peculiar Children’ are soon threatened by the arrival of the Wights, a group of immortal human-like creatures, led by Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), who hunt peculiars for their eyes in order to maintain their immortality. When Mr. Barron ends up taking Miss Peregrine hostage, Jacob takes on the responsibility of keeping the Peculiar Children safe from Barron and his fellow Wights, as Jacob learns that he himself has the ‘peculiarity’ of seeing the monstrous creatures known as hollowgasts that the Wights control and yet are invisible to others.

Admittedly this film starts off on a rather slow note. It does take a little while before it really gets going and starts to get into the stuff with the titular ‘Peculiar Children’. But once it does, I can safely say that this is where the film really starts to shine. In terms of story, this definitely matches with Burton’s visual sensibilities as well as his tendency to focus on characters who are generally seen as ‘outcasts’ (e.g. Edward Scissorhands, Batman, etc.). As a result, the visuals are definitely the best part of the film, from the action sequences (the big action sequence involving re-animated skeletons and hollowgasts at a carnival is easily the best moment in the entire film) to even minor details like the shift in color scheme that occurs whenever characters go in and out of time loops. But ultimately the key success of this film comes in the form of its titular ‘Peculiar Children’. While her name does come first in the title, Miss Peregrine ultimately isn’t the main character of the story; the children are. Granted, like I said before, it takes a while before they really start to let the kids use their abilities but when they do, they’re easily the best part of the film. They work very well together and there is a nice variety to their abilities, from Emma (Ella Purnell), who can control air, to Olive (Lauren McCrostie), who can control fire (and yes, their abilities were switched from the book which is really no big deal in terms of the overall story), to Enoch (Finlay MacMillan), who can bring inanimate objects to life (e.g. those aforementioned skeletons). So in short, while the first half of the film does start off rather slow, the second half does end it on a good note.

Because the focus is on the kids, they get plenty of screen time during the second half of the film. And for a cast of general unknowns, they all do a really solid job. Sure character development is admittedly pretty simple in this story but the ‘Peculiar Children’ do make up for it thanks to the variety of their abilities and their solid camaraderie. As for some of the other members of the cast, Asa Butterfield does a good job acting as the audience’s avatar in this world of peculiarity. He also has solid romantic chemistry with Ella Purnell in what will no doubt be her breakout role as Emma, who’s easily the principal member of the ‘Peculiar Children’ and quite frankly provides a lot of the film’s heart. While Miss Peregrine does end up taking a back seat to the Peculiar Children during the second half of the story, Eva Green, in her second collaboration with Tim Burton following 2012’s Dark Shadows, brings just the right amount of eccentricity to the role while also very much conveying the compassion that she has for the Peculiar Children that she protects. As she put it, she’s ‘Scary Poppins with a Big Heart’. And finally there’s Samuel L. Jackson as the film’s main villain, Mr. Barron. I’ll just say it straight up; Jackson is very much hamming it up here. But if you ask me, that’s totally fine. Campy Samuel L. Jackson is fun Samuel L. Jackson and it’s very clear that he’s having quite a lot of fun in this role. And just like in The Legend of Tarzan earlier this year, he gets plenty of the best lines.

Admittedly I wouldn’t really say that Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is one of Tim Burton’s best films. Given the films that he’s made over the years, this one is admittedly a bit standard by comparison, especially in terms of story. And as noted earlier, it does take a bit for it to really get going. But once it does, that’s when the film really starts to shine. It smartly focuses on what it should be focusing on; the ‘Peculiar Children’. The kids are easily the stars of the show and they all do a really nice job for being a cast of general unknowns. The other members of the cast are solid as well and this is very much a Tim Burton film in terms of visual style and how it reflects Burton’s quirky sensibilities as a filmmaker. Overall, if one were to rank all of the films that Burton has directed over the years, this one would fit somewhere nicely in the middle. As noted in the intro, this is based off of the first installment in a series of books that author Ransom Riggs wrote that was directly inspired by the collection of vintage photographs that he has amassed over the years. At the moment it’s unclear if this will be followed by a sequel and for the record, this can technically be classified as being part of the ‘Young Adult’ genre that’s had generally mixed results in terms of film adaptations the past few years. But in that case, at the very least I can say that for a film that’s based off of a ‘Young Adult’ novel, this is definitely one of the better ones and I wouldn’t mind seeing another film set in this universe.

Rating: 3.5/5