Review of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) by Spangle — 06 Nov 2016

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an absolutely wild film with a suitably outrageous ending. Fitting Tim Burton's narrative and visual style perfectly, this film tells a story of a world in which people with "peculiarities" exist. However, this world is under attack from "bad peculiars" who seek immortality. A pretty typical set-up masked by an unusual setting and unusual characters, the film still proves to be a unique treat. If nothing else, it is the most realistic portrayal of Florida ever put to film.

Focusing on Jake (Asa Butterfield), a seemingly ordinary kid who comes to learn his peculiarity, which he inherited from his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp). As a child, Abe told Jake stories about Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and all of the children under her care in a remote island in Wales. By the time he passes, it is time for Jake to take over protecting Miss Peregrine and the children with his unique and peculiar ability to see monsters. As they are invisible to everyone else, this skill is invaluable when defending the children from the "bad peculiars".

Though its general plot seems relatively new, it does nothing truly inventive with this set up. Good versus evil, boy meets girl, big fight at the end, conflict, conflict, and more conflict. Even its time loop element is hardly unique and the film more than likely violates every rule it sets forth regarding time loops, making one wonder why they even bothered in the first place. The beginning takes too long and there is a moment where Miss Peregrine is talking to Jake in the garden and I realized just how much the opening drags. The battle can be a little over-the-top and silly. The ending is rushed and wildly predictable, while adding unnecessary details. Asa Butterfield is quite bad in the lead role with some lines coming out worse than others. Getting words out of his mouth is like squeezing a nearly empty ketchup bottle, just trying to get that last drop out. In other words, it is like his mouth fights against the words.

All of that said, I quite enjoyed it. It is simply a wildly imperfect film. The final battle, though over-the-top, fits in with the wild narrative and the moral of the story here - bravery - is quite nicely handled. Even better, all of the peculiar children are utilized in the battle and before the film. I heard some criticism towards a lack of focus on many of the children and this is true, though everyone does get their moment in the spotlight. When you see what some of these kids can do, it also does prove to be a very nice surprise. This film also has a very intriguing world that is worthy of further exploration with a lot at play and, though unoriginal in how it uses its world, the world itself is incredibly original. Burton and writer Jane Goldman do a great job putting the world created by Ransom Riggs on film and instilling it with this weird, fun, and youthful energy. The concept of time loops is one that certainly demands further attention and the film does a good job at evoking a sense of mystery with everything it reveals to Jake and the audience about this world.

Even better than all of those positives, however, is the special effects. A true visual treat, though this one is far less grounded in plotting than Burton's past films, its visuals are still top-notch. The sequence from the trailer of the girl blowing air to remove water from a shipwreck is simply incredible, but really most of the special effects are terrific in this film. It really causes a true suspension of disbelief and creates a sense of wonder when the film shows what tricks it has hidden up its sleeves.

As a whole, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children has proven to be an incredibly divisive film. The critiques are not wrong and the film is greatly flawed. Burton's films previously had a sense of being weird and fantastical, yet still eminently real and authentic. They occurred in the real world to otherwise average people. This film, however, is simply just weird. However, it is just as enchanting as his past works and welcomes you with open arms to delight in the peculiarity of the world of this film. Thus, while not as good as his past works, the film remains a delight to behold and experience in spite of its many faults.