On the surface, strange and unusual director Tim Burton
seems like a good fit for Ransom Riggs’ novel Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; a children’s fantasy filled
with scary tentacle monsters and orphaned children with fantastic abilities
which feel right at home in a good horror movie. But Burton has proven to be at
his best when he is working with material that he has a passion for, or at the
very least, has the opportunity to put a personal touch on…which makes his own
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN a statement on his career.
Jake (Asa Butterfield), is a 14-year old boy who connects
more with his storytelling grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp), than his distant
parents (Chris O’Dowd and Kim Dickens). After a strange event happens, Jake
finds himself whisked back in time to the 1940’s at a mysterious orphanage run
by the shape-shifting Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), who cares for a group of
children with creepy and fantastic abilities…who are being hunted by the evil
Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) and his creatures who want to eat the children’s
eyes.
MISS PEREGRINE takes place in a complicated fantasy world populated
with weird characters, scary monsters, and employs time-travel which whisks
characters around all over the place. In an attempt to keep things somewhat
grounded, Tim Burton uses the old cinematic trick of the main character acting
as the audience surrogate. We see and experience the world through Jake’s eyes,
and as he goes, the audience goes. Right away, there are issues as Jake is
drawn up as a very boring and bland character. His motivations for finding the
orphanage are fine, but once he’s there, there’s little reason for him to stick
around other than to listen to other characters stand around and talk. There’s
way too much telling and not showing in an attempt to build this universe, and
it doesn’t take long before MISS PEREGRINE turns into a grind.
With Jake as a wet noodle of a main character, the burden
falls upon the story to keep things interesting. The script is bogged down with
way too much exposition, and although Burton is trying play with the theme of the
power of storytelling, it never gets very intriguing. By the time the finale
rolls around, in which Burton sticks to his new shtick of a ridiculous final
battle, we’re left wondering exactly what everyone is fighting for. The story
makes little sense, not from the point of view of the main character or from a
scripting standpoint.
One of the most frustrating things about MISS PEREGRINE is
that the narrative mess takes place in a very good looking world. The orphanage
is packed with detail, and it would probably take several viewings to notice
everything in the many creepy rooms. Creature design is fantastic, with the
spindly, eyeball-eating monsters a nightmare-inducing visual treat. Some
excellent stop-motion is used, including a short-lived fight between two
bastardized skeleton-dolls which is the most fun the movie has to offer.
The goddamn 3D is muddy shit.
Acting is a bit of a misfire. Asa Butterfield has zero
charisma and doesn’t do the film any good. Eva Green hams it up, but she’s less
of a character and more of a tool to provide exposition…and she vanishes from
the movie for too long when she turns into a bird and stays there. Samuel L.
Jackson acts and looks like a cartoon character with his long white spiky hair
and pointed teeth. Judi Dench and Kim Dickens appear for what seems like 15
seconds apiece and go away. Terence Stamp escapes mostly unscathed (he’s always
great), and the younger cast of children, including Ella Purnell and Finlay
MacMillan…are very good.
Over the years, Burton has put his heart and soul into
certain films. In BIG FISH he told us about his relationship with his father.
ED WOOD was his love letter to filmmaking, while BETELGEUSE, SLEEPY HOLLOW, and
CORPSE BRIDE expressed his fascination with death. When he doesn’t put a
personal touch on his work, the difference can be seen…and MISS PEREGRINE falls
into that category. It is un-interesting, dull, over-the-top silly, and makes
no impression whatsoever…not on the audience or the director.
BOTTOM LINE: Fuck it
