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
