Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children is a story that follows a boy named Jake. Jake as a child was told stories and shown pictures of gifted children who were hiding out in loops from a world full of monsters. After the death of his grandfather Jake sets out to find these children and their teacher Miss Peregrine. Once he finds the locations, goes to the island, and stumbled upon the kids shenanigan ensued.

I went into this movie with low expectations. I love Tim Burton as much as the next person, but really thought I was going to leave the showing thinking it was just alright. So, what did I end up thinking? Well let me break it down for you...

In my usual fashion I'll talk about the characters first. There are so many in this movie and all of them were so interesting. First off we have Asa Butterfield who plays Jake. His character took a little bit for me to warm up too. I really like him as an actor so when we were really getting into the movie I felt myself being kind of letdown by him... Fortunately this disappointment doesn't last long. As the movie goes on I started to feel like Asa was really understanding and getting into his role as Jake, who is very mundane compared to the people he is surrounded by. Saying that, maybe that's how they wanted his character to be? Maybe they wanted us to be like "ehhh he's alright", and then to be surprised by his growth throughout the movie. Next up is Miss Peregrine herself, played by Eva Green. When I think Miss P she is instantly who I think of. She's so over the top without managing to be over the top, yeah that makes no sense, but it's really how it was. It worked so well for how her character was suppose to be. Felt as if she was as knowledgeable as her character was suppose to be and that she really did love these kids. There were a few moments when she even made my eyes a little misty... Plus it didn't hurt that her wardrobe in the movie is fantastic.

The last "main" character I want to talk about is Emma, who is played by Ella Purnell. She is stunning! Her scenes, especially the wind and boat scene, were done so well. Even when animation had to be added to her she still really looked like she had the power to control air. She had this lightness about her and she was very 40's romantic. Hopefully she is an actress well be seeing more of in the future.  Those in my opinions were the main characters

throughout. I want to mention however, how much I really liked Enoch's character. Finlay Macmillan completely came out of left field. He has this creepy Tom Riddle thing going on, and ya girl dug it! I saw someone mention in an interview about his character being "too much" and that they couldn't believe that in a family movie they would put something so vile.... UMMM I completely disagree. I think him as a character and his gift were so unique, presented fabulously, and still family film friendly. He was my personally peculiar. The other children were all adorable. Their powers were all funny and cool. I do wish we would have gotten to see more of them, and their gifts; particularly the twins. I get why they were kept low key, but I would have liked even more of them.

When it came to the plot and story I wont lie, it started off a bit slow. The first half of this movie we just get Jake dealing with the loss of his grandfather, getting to the island, and wandering around asking a lot of questions while getting no answers. Definitely felt that the second half of this movie surpassed the first by miles. Once we started getting answers and action started happening is when I became fully invested in this film. Going on this adventure with these kids was such a good time. Watching them use their unique powers to fight Samuel L. Jackson was all so a lot of fun. I always think that he makes such an interesting villain in films. The fight scenes weren't what I was expecting and that is very much a good thing. When I thought of how things would play out and how the Hollows would look I never imagined them so vividly. This Burton really hit the nail on the head with visually portraying everything. The last 30/40 minutes of this movie was my favorite part of the entire film. I liked how everything came together, the villains were funny while being spooky, and how everything was neatly wrapped up by the end.

I know so many people were wondering if the changes from the book to the film would be too much, or something they didn't like. Personally I rather liked the changes. They didn't seem forced and really made the movie flow. A lot of times I feel that even if you haven't read the books you can still point out what's been changed. This wasn't a problem with Miss P's. I left the theater completely stratified with my movie going experience and the film for sure surpassed my expectations. This movie might have started slow, but it ended strong. This film has this Peter Pan meets Xmen thing going on and I think it worked in its favor.

If you're a Tim Burton and Ransom Riggs fan I don't fell you'll be letdown. It's very rare I like a film more than it's novel but in the case of Miss P's I prefer the film. Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children is the perfect film to bring in the fall season and is fun for all ages.

8.5/10 Stars

Sidebar: Since I saw the film with my sisters Amanda, I also asked her what she would rate it. She gives it a 9/10