Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Ransom Riggs, Jane Goldman
Actors: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L Jackson, Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Allison Jenney, Chris O’Dowd, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell
Music Score: Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson
Release Date: OUT NOW!
There is no doubt that I have a full set of expectations when I sit down in front of the silver screen for a Tim Burton movie. The off-kilter, the frenetic, the weird, the other-worldly, the eerie, the dark almost black humour, all slap-bang in the middle of a slightly out of phase, hyper suburbia that looks recognisable if the eyes are squinted and the head cocked to one side. Say, Edward Scissorhands, Batman or, a personal favourite, Beetlejuice. And let’s not forget a Danny Elfman score to hold everything together.
Which brings me to Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children; there is no Elfman score. Not that Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson do not do a serviceable job. However, it is one of the things that stands out – not necessarily in a negative way – but in a way that suggests Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children seems to be lacking the usual Burton tropes. In fact, by Tim Burton’s standards Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is a lot like watching a film under incredible restraint. Not quite the director bound and gagged but pretty close.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is a bad film, it has its moments, particularly the grand finale but, on the other hand, up to that point it is a slow boil and something of a trudge. One, not deliberate oddity is the jarring change of locations from North America to Wales, in the seemingly blink of a viewer’s eye.
With the expectation of Samuel L Jackson – who seems to be the only cast member to have understood what constitutes a Tim Burton film – the rest of the cast seem to be from a different movie altogether, a sort of alternate Harry Potter universe. Although special mention to Terence Stamp as well for at least trying to get the point of a Tim Burton film. But Samuel L Jackson, channelling Cesar Romero’s Joker from the 1966 Batman television series – which is a plus in Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children – to great effect. Unfortunately, for all of us, Samuel L Jackson’s character never has enough screen time but when he does there is a hint of the film Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children could – should – have been.
My best guess about Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is it feels a lot like Tim Burton filtered through a committee of the very dull and the very safe and possibly a few accountants thrown into the mix to direct eyes to the profit margin (probably Brian from accounts had a bit too much input. And it’s on those twin rocks of committee and cash Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children finds itself well and truly beached.
I am not asking for vintage Tim Burton – that ship has probably sailed – just for some of the magic, the darkness, the black humour. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is like a distant echo that you think you hear but don’t quite. Worse still, the right Tim Burton ingredients are all here but somehow like a poor Houdini who will never escapes his bonds, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is bound and gagged. And bides its time until the credits roll and we can all escape from its resounding disappointment.
Somebody, in Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, needs to quip; ‘I’ve seen the Exorcist 47 times, and it keeps getting funnier every single time….’
But alas……..
Reviewer: Steve Hooker
Reviews Editor: The Very Devil Himself (or Brian from accounts, actually one and the same person but tell no one!)