“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” hit the theaters on September 30 and the weekend following its premiere found itself as the top selling movie for the weekend box office. This was not shocking with director, Tim Burton’s success and the popularity of the book Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Being a fan of the series, I decided to give the movie a try. It centers around Jacob, a young boy who spent his childhood listening to nonsensical to stories from his grandfather about kids who weigh as light as air and are invisible. After receiving a cryptic message from his grandfather, he goes to find these children. He finds Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, but learns they are in trouble and need his help.
The story itself is made up of a lot of different elements, but mostly it was an adventurous story. I was skeptical about the portrayal the monsters within the story. It is difficult to show people something that is scarier than what their own imagination can generate. The face was too cartoonish. The whole body wonderfully animated even the teeth and tentacles looked good, but above the mouth it looked as it the monster was unfinished. The face was far too plain. It made the whole monster less frightening. This was disappointing being that they are some of the main villains in the film.
I found the set design to be excellent. The set meshed well with the mood of each scene. The overall look of Miss Peregrine’s Home was exactly as it should be. It was beautiful with tons of flowers, and stain glass windows to bring in light. It made the house feel safe, as it should, being a safe haven for children and all. It made the atmosphere that much more believable. The older more worn down version of the house set the atmosphere as eerie and ghost like. It gave me a better grasp of the situations and how the characters were feeling about them.
This movie has many different elements such as action, adventure, supernatural elements, drama, mystery, and love. This many different aspects can sometimes make the movie incoherent in the attempt to appeal to too many audiences at once. Yes, some of these elements made the story a bit stereotypical, but, it worked well together. With the strange combination of story elements, the story flows nicely, with continuous entertainment.
Fans of the book, if you are looking for a flawless adaptation, look somewhere else. The ending, although dramatically changed was still entertaining, dramatic and shocking. The switch in powers between Olive and Emma, and Olive’s increase in age has been confirmed to have a greater purpose than pointless love triangles. Some could argue that if Tim Burton hadn’t directed it, then the director wouldn’t have such creative liberty and the plot would have stayed more of the same. I believe the heart of the book stayed with the movie. It is whimsical, strange and a little scary, like it was meant to be.
Overall, I would not call this movie fantastic and rate it seven out of ten. It’s possible my expectations were too high because of the well known director and people in it. It kept me entertained for the time being, but that’s more or less why I went to see it. It kept me occupied, made me laugh, jump in fright, and cringe at the awkwardness of adolescence.
