Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a book by author Ransom Riggs with a rather substantial following. When looking at some of Director Tim Burton‘s more recent work, style debatably has been more a focus than substance and this also would be the biggest concern amongst Fans of the literary piece. Fears thankfully can be alleviated as this Film adaptation is done pleasingly.
Jake (Asa Butterfield) has a strong relationship with his grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) as his parents were often inattentive to him. Starting off at childhood, Abe would tell Jake these magical stories about his friends, but they were always believed to be just stories – stories about children with powers, and the evil people trying to hurt them.
Fast-forward to modern day when Abe gets attacked by one of Barron’s (Samuel L. Jackson) monsters, pleading to Jake he must find Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). At first, Jake believes his grandfather and tries to fulfill his dying wish to find the loop in order to time travel and tell Miss Peregrine what had happened. By hoping to accomplish this, he has to try and devise a plan to get his parents (Kim Dickens and Chris O’Dowd) to allow him to travel to Wales and fulfill Abe’s dying wish.
Jake and his father travel to Wales, where Jake meets Emma (Ella Purnell) and discovers that Abe was in fact right. Jake follows Emma and travels back to 1943 through the loop where Miss Peregrine and all the children live. After getting to know all the children, Emma, Enoch (Finlay MacMillan), Olive (Lauren McCrostie), Horace (Hayden Keeler-Stone), Claire (Raffiella Chapman) and others, Jake soon befriends them and wants to help them anyway that he can. Throughout the Movie, tensions arise as Emma realizes Jake wants to return home, back to 2016 – similarly to what Abe did at the time. With Barron on the hunt for Miss Peregrine and moreover the children, Jake has to help ensure that Barron cannot take anyone else away from him.
What makes Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children such a delight aside from the special effects are the perfect dynamic between characters. The family bond between Asa Butterfield and Terence Stamp is truly heartfelt. Moreover Eva Green is highly likable as the figurative mother to these children and we believe she is always doing everything in her power to protect them. Ella Purnell also shines as Emma, pairing well with Butterfield. Lastly, Samuel L. Jackson as our main antagonist delivers a devilishly-fun take on a character evil to the core.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a highly-rewarding watch that will appease both the die-hard Burton Fans and also Fans of Riggs‘ Novel, and perhaps gain some new Fans looking for something adventurous at the Movies this weekend.
20th Century Fox Canada release MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN on Friday, September 30, 2016.
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