Tim Burton is, without a doubt, one of the world’s cinematic geniuses. His particular brand of filmmaking, his style, his aesthetics, his storylines and well-loved quirky characters, his uncanny ability to mesh the dark and the humorous together have given him one of the most distinctive, one of the most easily recognizable filmographies in the world.
Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Corpse Bride, Batman, Big Fish and many other films by Burton all contain similar elements that convey his own interests as a director and they all manage to give the audience and critics something that is new and different from what cinemagoers are used to.
Burton’s newest film, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children showcases the director’s particular styles and sensibilities and yet, like much of his later fare (Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, etc.), lacks the equally important emotional content that is supposed to hook the audience and keep them interested in the characters and story instead of relying on only the beauty and the oddness, the razzle and the dazzle, of the film to do so.
This is not to say that Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is devoid of emotional content. In fact, it is a step up from some of his films that have the same fault. It is simply a case where the film needed to be two equivalent halves of cool visuals and heart, but one ending up outweighing the other.
Nevertheless, the film is still very likable and can still be quite a fun watch. There are many other things that are enjoyable in the movie, which is based on Ransom Riggs’ well-known novel (which I have never read) of the same name.
The story follows a young boy named Jake (Asa Butterfield) who, influenced by the stories his grandfather told him as a child and motivated by his grandfather’s own brutal death, travels to a small Welsh island that once hosted a children’s home run by the enigmatic and intelligent Miss Peregrine (Eva Green).
Jake eventually discovers that Miss Peregrine and the children, all of whom are Peculiars, blessed with special powers and abilities, still live in the home, existing in a time loop, where it is always September 3, 1943, in order to survive. Things get more complicated when Jake realizes that he himself is a Peculiar with the ability to see the monstrous Hollows (which are invisible to everyone else) being led by the villainous Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) in an attempt to devour the eyes of the Peculiar children, as the eyes of Peculiars can help Hollows to be restored to their previously human form.
Yes, the whole thing is quite complex, but at least it still manages to be fun. Jake’s growth as a character and the journey he takes us on has drawn parallels with the Harry Potter and X-Men franchises and one can see the similarities. In all three cases, the audience is swept into a world with a new set of norms and rules and that in itself is quite thrilling. The potential of such worlds and the contrast they form with our mundane real world is part of what draws us into these stories and Tim Burton ensures that the world of his movie is both exciting and attractive.
The very concept of the Peculiars, isolated and gifted children who are hidden away from the world, is one that immediately appeals to the viewers. The special effects used in the film to highlight the powers of the Peculiars are, for the most part, commendable. The underwater scenes, for example, when Emma (Ella Purnell), a Peculiar who manipulates air, and Jake’s love interest, leads him to a sunken ship and then later proceeds to resurrect the wreck, are ravishing to behold.
The image of Jake and Emma swimming among the skeletons and the destroyed dining hall may be one of my favourite shots from any of the films I have seen this year. The other Peculiars: Fiona who can manipulate plant life, Enoch who can give life to inanimate objects, Hugh who keeps bees in his stomach, invisible Millard, Olive who is pyrokinetic, and all the others offer a range of ways in which characters can be used to fascinate an audience and represent individual personas.
Asa Butterfield in the lead role did his part well enough, evoking the right mix of being kind and loyal and good, while also being a bit of an underdog beset by loneliness and the awkwardness that comes with the teenage years, so we do feel like his character is someone we should root for. Samuel L. Jackson is more funny than evil and this kind of hampered with the potential for him to be a real menacing villain in the film. Tim Burton usually blends humour and darkness well, but this does not happen with Jackson’s character, nor in the scene with the Hallows and the battle at the fair. It was nice to see Eva Green acting again after so many hearts were broken when Showtime’s Penny Dreadful got cancelled. She brought some of the emotion to the film and the scene where she asks Jake to protect the Peculiars is one of the best acted in the entire movie.
Overall, the Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children has a few flaws, but these must be forgiven because the “Burtonesque” in movies is something we all need in our lives. I mean, why would anyone not want to see a film dealing with eyeless children, monsters with tentacles coming out of their mouths, time travel, a love interest who is a light as air, and Eva Green turning into a falcon? It is really is a lot of fun.