I’ve given my thoughts on Tim Burton
in the past, seeing him as one of the most inspiring directors of the past
thirty years, and some of his films being among my absolute favorites. Sure,
some of his films during the turn of the millennium weren’t that great, but I
think he has been getting back into the green recently. Hell, his last film
“Big Eyes” was among my top 10 favorite films of 2014. And while I do have
something planned later on this year relating to the man’s work,
right now we’ll be talking about his newest film, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for
Peculiar Children.”
In our modern world, we follow the
life of Jake Portman, a boy who travels to an island in Wales, in search of his
grandfather’s old friend after his tragic murder. What he finds is a group of
peculiar children, guided by Miss Alma Peregrine, who hide out in time loops to
relive the same day of choosing, in order to hide from the monsters that hunt
for them.
Now, let me be clear, I haven’t read
the book that this film is based on, so I’m only look at this film on its own.
Got it? Good, great, grand! Now, NO YELLING ON THE BUS!... Anyways, what did I
think of this movie? Well, I thought it was good, but I wouldn’t exactly say
it’s among Burton’s best work. The same can be said for the screenwriter, Jane
Goldman, who’s written for almost every Matthew Vaughn project (including
“Kingsman” and “X-Men: First Class”). Not the best, but still enjoyable.
For starters, there are times when
the pacing was a little unbalanced. After the opening credits, it felt like
things were suddenly going by so quickly, you’ll feel like you missed
something. Or it could be a case where scenes feel out of order, like Jake
being made fun of by his classmates or his connection with his grandfather, and
we won’t get an explanation until ten minutes later. It felt like it needed one
more editing job before it was officially ready for release. I also felt like
some of the characters were a bit underdeveloped. A few of the peculiar
children, a couple of the villains, and even the normal people weren’t as
investing as they could have been. We don’t get much a connection between Jake
and his parents, aside from Chris O’Dowd as the dad, who isn’t interesting in
the slightest. As for the villains known as the Hollows, aside from Mister
Baron, we don’t get much screen time with. I mean, when you see them in the
climax, they’re awesome, but it wasn’t used to as much effect as I was
expecting, and instead more focus is used on the more mindless Hollows, who
look like the Slenderman with a mouth.
Aside from that, everything else in
the film was very enjoyable to watch. When we finally do get to the time loop
the peculiars stay in, the film really manages to showcase some of Burton’s
whimsical nature. For starters, the production design is truly magnificent when
going through times and different sets. If there is one thing that Burton films
never fail to do, it’s look like they have effort put into it. Hell, even in
films like “Dark Shadows” or “Planet of the Apes,” I can at least give credit
that the films LOOK amazing. The titular Peculiar children’s talents are quite
unique to them, both in shape and size, and the child actors portraying them
are fairly good. You got one with super strength, one that makes plants grow
huge, one with a mouth in the back of her head, a girl who can heat things with
the touch of her hands, a pair of twins, a boy who can reanimate objects, and a
girl who is full of air. While three of them do get developed throughout the
film, I kind of wished the film showcased all of them just a little bit more.
But hey, what can you do? Asa Butterfield as Jake is fairly enjoyable. The
thing about Tim Burton’s films is that he often does tales about outcasts who
don’t seem to fit in within society, and Jake is no exception. Jake is like us,
wanting to believe the stories we were told as children were true, and live
them out like we always dreamed of. We’re shown that at school and even with
his parents, he doesn’t really have a good sense of connection with them, but
through being with the Peculiars and adapting his grandfather’s abilities does
he come to find where his true acceptance lies.
However, there are two performances
that truly steal the show and make up for some of my complaints about the film.
One is Eva Green as Miss Peregrine. Being the head of the house of Peculiars,
and one who’s able to control time within a certain day, she’s very
knowledgeable about what to expect within it, right down to even the simplest
of details, like how much a person weighs and how fast they’ll arrive at a
certain point in time. Even when she knows how something will unfold, but goes along with it as if she knows an alternative will pop up. With this being her second Burton film, I have a feeling she’ll most
likely appear in more. And the second performance that I absolutely adore is
from the villain, Mister Baron, played by Samuel L. Jackson. All I can say is,
he looks like he’s having the time of his life in this performance. Every time
he’s on screen, he chews the scenery with every passing second, and always
manages to get a good laugh out of it. He truly brings more life to the film
when he pops up, and at times I can probably tell he’s improvising. An interesting fact that I read up about was how Jackson compared Burton’s directing to that
of Tarantino’s, giving you the directions but allowing you to add some flare of
your own if it fits, both in a very similar manner. Kind of makes me wonder why Jackson didn’t work with
him sooner.
Overall, what are my final thoughts
with “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children?” Well, while it may be on
the weaker side of Burton’s filmography, I still think it’s worth checking out.
There is still a lot of wonder to witness in the film, and I do believe some of
the performances, particularly with Eva Green and Sam Jackson, make the film
all the more enjoyable. If you like it more or less, then I get why.
Rating: 7/10
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