"Promise me one thing, you'll look after them, Jake!"
As a young boy, Jake (Asa Butterfield) heard the scary stories of his grandfather. One day, upon coming home from his summer job, he finds his grandfather dying in the back woods with his eyes out of his head! Desperate to find out what happened, Jake finds a postcard from one of the "characters" his grandfather told him about, Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). Trying to find out for himself, Jake convinces his lackadaisical father (Chris O'Dowd) to take him to Wales to find the old "children's home" that his grandfather had told him about. Through a walk in the woods with two people "paid" to be his friends, Jake finds the children's home, destroyed. Or is it?
In many ways, Miss Peregrine is a visually-stunning production. From the present depiction of a gloomy Wales town, to a lively, convincing 1940's depiction of that area of the world, The production design and Colleen Atwood's costumes are all extravagant and brilliant. It gives this horror fantasy some much-needed touches of whimsy. The pace moves by at a fairly quick pace, and the visual effects are often very solid. Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson's music score is often lively and inventive. The time loop idea is very solidly-executed.
The title character is quite interesting indeed. Because Mrs. Green gives a spectacular performance here. She reminded me of a darker, slightly meaner, and more twisted version of Mary Poppins, but still with the heart and whimsy that makes you care about her character. Butterfield is a decent lead, but I didn't find his performance here to be quite as engaging as Ender's Game or Hugo. Ella Purnell does a good job as Emma, and Allison Janney works in a small dose as a suspicious psychologist. Dame Judi Dench is in the film, but it is sadly little more than an extended cameo.
On the downside, the editing for the movie is very choppy. Some scenes very abruptly end and don't transition very seamlessly. This got somewhat annoying at times. There are some moments that are over-the-top creepy (though I've heard the book is as well). I also felt like at times with the rapid pace, we didn't really get to know a lot of the peculiar children. With the exception of Emma and Enoch, we only see the others do their abilities once or twice, without really hearing much from them at all. In the end, when we are supposed to care about them as they leave, the intended emotional effect doesn't quite make it through.
Finally, even though he does try really hard, I felt like Samuel L. Jackson was miscast as the villain. Granted, I was intrigued to see him play the antagonist here. But his overall personality, hit and miss humor and somewhat modern dialogue is out-of-place in the film's setting. I know movies are trying to be more racially-diverse in casting terms, but honestly, he just doesn't fit.
I was intrigued at the idea of this story, as in many ways, I felt like Miss Peregrine (based on the trailer) would be a whimsical fantasy that would try to capture the imagination of the recent live-action Disney fairy tales. However, unlike Tim Burton's last big-budget fantasy which largely stayed away from the director's typical dark and somewhat macabre tone, (Alice in Wonderland), Miss Peregrine is one of those rare cases where the movie is scarier than the trailer.
True, there is some fantastical wonder found here. But also, Burton's sense of "horror lite" makes it's way here as well in droves. I know many children that would probably have nightmares from some of the "creepy" scenes here, and I would certainly tell parents, please heed the "PG-13" rating. In many ways, Peregrine made me think of last year's Goosebumps. But that film held back on the scare factor enough to make the film entertaining enough without ever getting to the point of "creepy"
The creepy factor makes the film hard to really enjoy sometimes, as well as hard to grade. But there's also some real issues here that are also hard to ignore (and ones that I also mentioned). But, there's still enough good here to make the film at least a decent diversion. Green's commanding performance, the fantastic production design and some very interesting plot elements (the time loop and time shifting concepts especially) do manage to mitigate some of it's problems.
However, when it comes to whether or not you should see it, if you are a fan of Burton or films that have horror elements, then you'll probably love this film. However, if you're not a fan of either Burton or movies that utilize some horror elements, then it's not for you. And it's certainly not for the faint of heart. That's the description I landed closer to.
Score: 6.0/10
Content Problems Families Should Be Aware Of:
Language: One use of "g-d---". Three uses of "h---" and two of "d---". We also hear "crap" and "oh my g--". The British obscenities "B---ocks" and "b-ggers" appear, and we also hear the profanity-replacement "what the...hello?".
Adult Content: When wet, Emma's petticoat does cling to her body. We see her and Jake kiss a couple of times.
Violence: The film can get scary and somewhat graphic in its violence. Victor is able to tear apart replications of flesh and reanimate them at will. He puts beating hearts into inanimate objects. His two dolls (looking like creepier versions of Sid's toys from Toy Story) fight until one impales the other. Eyeballs are taken out (off-screen), and we witness some humanoids eat some eyeballs. The villainous monsters are scary-looking. We witness a few gruesome transformations. A battle sequence involves a few impalings and a few violent finishes. Someone is knocked out. Someone is hit in the face and killed by a crossbow. References are made to Mrs. Peregrine possibly (its not confirmed though) killing policemen. People are shown with empty eyesockets. We witness a TV program with animals ravaging a dead animal open (with some skin and blood shown). Skeletons come to life. Blood is shown on a tree. Bees fly in and out of someone's mouth. Twins cause someone to turn into stone and break apart.
Drugs/Alcohol: Mrs. Peregrine smokes a pipe a few times. A bar is seen a handful of times. Jake's dad is implied to be an alcoholic, after drinking several beers (this later causes him to take a long nap).
Other: Jake's father really is not a good father. A little bit of lying. The idea of the home reversing time to try and escape their problems does deliver somewhat of a mixed message.
