Question: What do you get when you cross the movies Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, X-Men, Groundhog Day, Back to the Future, and Field of Dreams together?
Answer: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Based on the #1 bestselling teen novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by author Ransom Riggs, comes director Tim Burton’s latest masterpiece. Burton, who’s known for his eccentric films, didn’t disappoint as he told the story of sixteen year old Jake, a young man mourning his grandfather, who recently passed away. While everyone, including Jake’s parents and the police, believe there was no foul play involved in his grandfather Abe’s death, Jake finds it hard to move on because something just doesn’t sit right with him regarding the circumstances surrounding his grandfather’s death.
To set his mind at ease, Jake, played by Asa Butterfield, ventures to a far away island Abe once called home as a child. Jake grew up listening to Abe’s fantastically wild tales of the years he spent at Miss Peregrine’s, a private school for “peculiar” children. He determines that he needs to see firsthand the home where an invisible boy, a girl who was lighter than air, a girl who was stronger than ten men, and a boy who was filled with bees, along with countless others who supposedly possessed equally incredulous oddities once lived. According to Abe, each of the residents in Miss Peregrine’s home possessed a specific trait that made it hard to live among the general population, and were sent to stay with Miss Peregrine, played by Eva Green, so they would be safe.
When Jake was a little boy he believed his grandfather’s every word, but as a young man he has a hard time believing that the stories of Miss Peregrine’s weren’t simply tall tales. So imagine his surprise when he explores the ruins of the old school to find that some of Abe’s classmates are not only still alive, but they haven’t aged a day since 1943! How on earth is that even possible?
Jake is welcomed by Miss Peregrine and all of the children as an honored guest, but they guard their secrets from him. As Jake gets to know each of his grandfather’s old friends, he finds himself entangled in moments of adventure and situations filled with peril, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats as they, along with Jake, try to unravel the time travel mystery.
I never read Ransom Riggs’ novel, but the movie still intrigued me. Riggs must have an especially peculiar imagination himself because I can’t fathom how he possibly came up with such a complicated story line, but it worked. Each character was so unique, and I especially liked Miss Peregrine herself, who was fiercely protective of the children in her home. She was quirky and quick-witted, and I had no doubts that she would do anything to guard her wards from the dangers that loomed.
I took my daughter Addie and her friend Libby, who are both nine years old, to see the movie with me. I’m normally pretty strict about following the parental guidance ratings, but after seeing the preview I was fairly certain my instinct that the girls would enjoy it would be correct. Both girls liked the movie, and said that even though they were scared at various points throughout the movie they don’t think that the movie was frightening enough to cause nightmares. “I thought the movie was very adventurous, and I think kids my age and older will like it because it has some pow to it . . . scariness and sweetness,” said Addie. Libby shared, “I liked all of the action! I also liked it because the peculiar children were all ages, which I appreciated.”
With it being that time of year when it’s fun to be frightened, this movie is the perfect film to get you into the Halloween spirit, especially the scenes starring Samuel L. Jackson, who leads a pack of vile, voracious, eyeball eating peculiars who want to live forever. It’s unlike any movie I’ve ever seen, which is refreshing, and if you are a Tim Burton fan, you’re sure to agree.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Directors: Tim Burton
Actors: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Ella Purnell, Chris O’Dowd
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and peril
Running Time: 2 hours 7 minutes
