The movie Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, rated PG-13, is a book to film adaptation directed by Tim Burton that is full of intriguing characters and exciting circumstances despite being inevitably inaccurate to the book.
The movie is based off the book written by Ransom Riggs. The characters in this story are inspired by real, vintage photographs Riggs found at various flea markets. This aspect of giving life to a photograph makes for a very compelling and unique storyline.
The plot of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is quite fascinating. The story follows Jake, played by Asa Butterfield, on his journey to discover the reality of his childhood bedtime stories told to him by his grandfather. The stories follow Miss Peregrine’s home and all of the unique children that live there. Just like every good bedtime story, there are monsters to be fought.
The film starts off by setting up the main character, Jake. It establishes Jake’s relationship with his grandfather early on, giving insight on the stories he told and the effects they had on Jake. As his grandfather’s last dying wish Jake travels to Poland to find this peculiar home, where adventure ensues.
The characters were brought to life from page to screen adequately. The actors chosen for each role did the book justice in both acting and looking the part. Asa Butterfield accurately portrays the lonely, lanky, teen boy that is Jake in the story. He gives a very real performance and captures the awkwardness of a teen boy around pretty girls entirely. Butterfield is actually a teenager so the story come across in a more genuine and relatable way. Eva Green, who plays Miss Peregrine, is the perfect actress for the character. Her confident stature and powerful delivery captures the mysterious wisdom and magic of the role while also being able to display realistic emotions in serious moments throughout the film.
Perhaps the greatest peculiarity of the film overall was the inaccuracies of the plot when compared to the book. Viewers who haven’t read the book will enjoy the movie just fine, but the viewers that have previous knowledge of the story will be quite disappointed.
Though the characterization of the characters was spot on, some of the children’s powers are inaccurate from the book. This lack of accuracy changes a certain dynamic amongst characters and part of the plot overall. The ending will also be a surprise for anyone who goes to see it because is completely different from the original story.
The film is very unique, yet many cliche tropes were added to the storyline. These cliches made certain aspects of the film cheesy and took away from moments that could have been mature and intense. For these reasons, viewers of a younger age may be more entertained than those that are older.
Tim Burton films are typically full of high quality effects, yet Miss Peregrine’s lacked in effects. There was a style to the movie that was meant to be a whimsical twist on reality. Yet instead of whimsical, the film gave off a R.L Stine GooseBumps vibe.The special effects of the monsters and Claire, the child with the peculiarity of a mouth on the back of her head, were more reminiscent of special effects from the early 2000’s than the dazzling effects of modern times.
Overall, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was number one in the box office its opening weekend and received a 64 percent rating from rotten tomatoes. As a film, it can be quite fascinating to young teens that have no prior knowledge of the story. This film has an intriguing plot, though it may differ from the original, that entices the audience and will keep viewers entertained for the full 127 minutes of the film.