Review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) by Patrick L — 29 Jan 2017

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is a confusingly, overstuffed mess and it's not one of Tim Burton's brightest spectacles".

Movie Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Date Viewed: October 8 2016.

Directed By Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Alice in Wonderland, Ed Wood, Mars Attacks! Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Screenplay By Jane Goldman, Based on the novel by Ransom Riggs.

Starring: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O'Dowd, Allison Janney, Terence Stamp, Rupert Everett, Ella Purnell, Kim Dickens, Samuel L. Jackson, Judi Dench, Finlay MacMillan, Lauren McCrostie, Cameron King, Pixie Davies, Georgia Pemberton, Milo Parker, Raffiella Chapman, Hayden Keeler-Stone and Joseph and Thomas Odwell.

Tim Burton what happened to your sense of style? "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is a wild misfire from the young adult universe and it is nothing but butter-finger special effects. Don't get me wrong, Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow) is a talented visionary but I wasn't sold by this "Home". Based on Ransom Riggs' series of fantasy novels, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" feels like two world-building movie franchises that got splashed with paint and got mushed together to create an unholy mess on uncreative proportions.

The story revolves around 16-year old Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield, from "Hugo") and his visit to "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children". For years, his grandfather, Abe (Terence Stamp) told him stories about battling monsters and living with Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) during World War II. After a bad day at work, Jake gets a call from grandpa, he goes to the house only to find him dead with his eyes missing. Grandpa manages to say his last few words to Jake before he dies, he says go to September 3, 1943.

After reading the letter from Miss Peregrine to Abe, Jake goes through a timeloop to find her and her peculiar children who have supernatural abilities. Miss Peregrine and her children live in an alternate world that's away from the real world and thanks to the time-loop she created, Miss Peregrine can reset the clock back to September 3, 1943 which means she and her children can live in the same day without ever aging. Oh yeah, Miss Peregrine also has the ability to transform into a peregrine falcon.

Unfortunately, Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children are being hunted down by Hallowgasts, shadowy monsters that no one can see except for Jake because he's the only special Peculiar in the movie and he's clearly meant to be the one. Those shadowy Hallowgasts are being led by a shapeshifter named Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson). Let's get Capital One's new spokesperson out of the way here because his performance is downright laughable. Jackson looks bored to be in this and wait a minute... Dame Judi Dench is in this too? Dench plays a wounded Peculiar who can morph into a avocet bird.

She explains that Mr. Barron raided her timeloop and killed her children and is now trying to go after Miss Peregrine.

Peregrine wants to Jake to take care of her peculiar children in case something happens to her and what a big shock! Jake begins to fall in love with one of the female peculiar children, her name is Emma Bloom (Ella Purnell), she can manipulate air and even create bubbles underwater. In fact, most of the peculiar children have strange powers, one of them can turn invisible, we have a young girl who is just as super strong as the Hulk and we have a boy who has bees in his stomach, Nicolas Cage.... Hit It! NOT THE BEES! AHHHHHHH! NOT THE BEES! AHHHHHHH!

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" not only feels like two messy world-building franchises getting mushed together, it also has the feel of a fantasy, pre-teen "X-Men" series. Speaking of that Marvel franchise, the screenplay was penned by Jane Goldman who wrote "X-Men: First Class". The kid actors do fine work here but the story is all over the map and veteran performers such as Dench, Allison Janney, Chris O'Dowd and Rupert Everett don't have much to do.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is a confusingly, overstuffed mess and it's not one of Tim Burton's brightest spectacles.