Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
2016  PG-13  FANTASY  2h 7min
CAST— Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, Judi Dench, Samuel L. Jackson
MUSIC— Mike Higham, Matthew Margeson  DIRECTOR— Tim Burton  BASED ON— Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (novel), by Ransom Riggs

     Director Tim Burton returns to the world of things unique and macabre in this imaginative fantasy. Jake’s grandfather has always been a storyteller, weaving intricate stories that include monsters and oddities that can only be fiction. When Grandpa dies Jake is left to deal with bland reality. In an attempt to let go of the past he and his father visit the tiny Welsh island where Grandpa grew up, the setting for most of his stories. But the children’s home Grandpa was raised in is a decades-old gutted wreck that offers no answers for Jake. That is until he enters a time loop that takes him back to 1943. Jake now meets the cast of Grandpa’s stories, his peculiar childhood friends who are all too real. There’s the girl who floats, lighter than air; the invisible boy; the mysterious hooded twins, etc. Overseeing them all is their headmistress, Miss Peregrine, who cares for the children and protects them from the Hollows, wayward peculiars who have become monsters. Their master is Mr. Barron, an evil peculiar who tracks down loops around the world, hunting peculiar children and their caretakers. Jake is soon thrust into an adventure that sees he and the children battling Hollows as Miss Peregrine is held captive by Barron. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s mostly good stuff. Where the film fails is in its main villain, Barron, an unfunny, un-scary joke that brings down the film. Other than him the film is brimming with fun characters and even some gruesome creatures (maybe too gruesome for little ones). Be you peculiar or not, you’re sure to enjoy.
OUR RATING— ***