#MissPeregrinesHomeForPeculiarChildren is a Tim Burton movie through and through. There are elements of "Frankenweenie" in it, there's a little bit of "Big Fish" too and "Edward Scissorhands" as well, full of goth and oddities, if this film had been directed by somebody else, it would've done the story disservice because the world and the characters that author Ransom Riggs created in his novel are pretty much in Tim Burton's neck of the woods. Some might even describe this as the X-Men movie that Tim Burton never made.
Scripted by Jane Goldman ("Kick-Ass," "X-Men: First Class") I don't want to give too much away here but let me briefly tell you the plot which focuses on a young kid named Jake (Asa Butterfield). One day, an incident befalls his grandfather, which then leads Jake to visit Wales, the location of the orphanage from his grandfather stories. In his search, he encounters the peculiar children that his grandfather had talked so much about and they lead him to Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) who explains to Jake that she is a ymbrynes, which is a peculiar that can create time loops which then keeps their place safe but it also means that they're stuck in a certain day of a certain year. All of this must be done due to WWII and the monsters, hollowgasts that hunt down peculiar children for their eyes. The leader of those hollowgasts is Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) who'll stop at nothing in his quest for immortality.
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is an adventure film that's wildly mesmerizing, and because the kids have powers or special abilities, it's also full of visual wonder, the movie magic is in high gear for most of the time. It takes someone with an active imagination like Tim Burton to bring an already imaginative story come to life on the big screen.
Part of what makes Ransom Rigg's novel special and popular is that it contains vernacular photographs as a guide to put together the narrative. Burton incorporates some of that into the film but they're there mainly at the beginning, just to set up the context. The design for the hollowgasts and what they eat to sustain themselves or to survive, some might see it as too scary for younger viewers, but I see it more as gnarly. But that's the thing though with many of Tim Burton's family adventure movies, they're never meant to walk on egg shells. They are fairy tales that find beauty in the dark and they bring out courage in characters that society marginalizes, and MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is no different.
The kids featured in this film are so adorable, once you get past or get used to their peculiarities, and some can be shocking, you'll find them to be absolutely adorable. And once they start teaming up and working together, it's so easy to cheer or root for them. Those who know me well know that I'm a huge Eva Green's fan, her involvement is definitely this film's big attraction to me, but I think she's just absolutely perfect in this role, Green has that natural instinct when it comes to playing mysterious powerful character, she previously showed it in "Penny Dreadful" series and now she unleashes that same vibe for this film. I guess you could say that MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is kind of like Mary Poppins meets X-Men meets Tim Burton, and it's a winning combination.
-- Rama's Screen --
Scripted by Jane Goldman ("Kick-Ass," "X-Men: First Class") I don't want to give too much away here but let me briefly tell you the plot which focuses on a young kid named Jake (Asa Butterfield). One day, an incident befalls his grandfather, which then leads Jake to visit Wales, the location of the orphanage from his grandfather stories. In his search, he encounters the peculiar children that his grandfather had talked so much about and they lead him to Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) who explains to Jake that she is a ymbrynes, which is a peculiar that can create time loops which then keeps their place safe but it also means that they're stuck in a certain day of a certain year. All of this must be done due to WWII and the monsters, hollowgasts that hunt down peculiar children for their eyes. The leader of those hollowgasts is Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) who'll stop at nothing in his quest for immortality.
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is an adventure film that's wildly mesmerizing, and because the kids have powers or special abilities, it's also full of visual wonder, the movie magic is in high gear for most of the time. It takes someone with an active imagination like Tim Burton to bring an already imaginative story come to life on the big screen.
Part of what makes Ransom Rigg's novel special and popular is that it contains vernacular photographs as a guide to put together the narrative. Burton incorporates some of that into the film but they're there mainly at the beginning, just to set up the context. The design for the hollowgasts and what they eat to sustain themselves or to survive, some might see it as too scary for younger viewers, but I see it more as gnarly. But that's the thing though with many of Tim Burton's family adventure movies, they're never meant to walk on egg shells. They are fairy tales that find beauty in the dark and they bring out courage in characters that society marginalizes, and MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is no different.
The kids featured in this film are so adorable, once you get past or get used to their peculiarities, and some can be shocking, you'll find them to be absolutely adorable. And once they start teaming up and working together, it's so easy to cheer or root for them. Those who know me well know that I'm a huge Eva Green's fan, her involvement is definitely this film's big attraction to me, but I think she's just absolutely perfect in this role, Green has that natural instinct when it comes to playing mysterious powerful character, she previously showed it in "Penny Dreadful" series and now she unleashes that same vibe for this film. I guess you could say that MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is kind of like Mary Poppins meets X-Men meets Tim Burton, and it's a winning combination.
-- Rama's Screen --