Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

October also brings out the movie spooktaculars. One such spooktacular is Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, the cinematic rendition of Ransom Riggs' debut novel. Director Tim Burton has the tone right for this film; the story isn't perfect.

Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield) is a typical jaded teen in Florida. Years earlier, his grandfather, Abe (Terence Stamp), told his impressionable self about the time he spent with Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and her home for superpowered "Peculiar" children. He no longer has time for such stories these days. One night, Jake finds Abe eyeless and lifeless, but he lives long enough to talk about "the island." The island is Cairnholm, Wales, site of Miss Peregrine's home. Jake and his ornithologist father, Franklin, head there on the advise of kindly Dr. Golan (Alison Janney).

Jake finds Miss Peregrine's home, destroyed during The Blitz, then finds himself in 1943. There, Jake meets all the Peculiar characters from his grandfather's stories. They've lived for over 70 years repeating the same day, every day, to protect themselves from the world. The biggest threat is Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), a "Wight" who wants to feed Peculiar eyes to the monstrous Hollowgasts. Jake finds out he can see the Hollowgasts, which will help him save the children from Mr. Barron.

There's a mystery and time travel is involved? The film's premise is understandable. Jake's romance with floating Peculiar, Emma (Ella Purnell), is also involving. The Peculiar kids each have their time to shine. But they spend a lot of time running from danger or resetting time than fighting. At least until Jake rallies them. That was questionable. What lost me was the nature of the villains. Natural, since their nature is barely explained. They just turn into Hollowgasts after a failed experiment and become Wights by eating eyeballs ... why?

As for the sight of the Wights eating eyeballs. Congrats. It's the creepiest thing I've seen in a Tim Burton movie since the throat-slashing in Sweeney Todd.

Anyway...

The top performances in the cast are from Green and Jackson. Green, as Miss Peregrine, is a memorable Peculiar. Able to shoot down a Hollowgast onto a waiting chalk outline, Peregrine is also a warm, capable Headmistress. Her opposite number, Mr. Barron, is equal parts hammy and creepy. He's clearly having fun as a villain and his every word is delivered with gusto. He's dangerously effective when he drops the formalities.

The technical aspects are the best part. The production and costume designs perfectly present two different worlds with Jake's reality and Miss Peregrine's time loop. One is drab and the other is colorful and alluring. The differences are striking. The visual effects render such elements as the Hollowgasts and most of the Peculiar powers in CGI. One Peculiar, Enoch, is a sort-of necromancer, whose puppets are rendered in suitably creepy stop-motion. Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson's score also suits the mood.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is another visual marvel from Tim Burton. But be prepared to ask yourselves a few questions afterwards. The premise is an interesting one and the characters are memorable. So it has that going for it. There are two sequel novels to the first one; let's see how they can adjust to this first film's rewrite of the novel's last third.