Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'

Written by Mike Cervantes and Shae Rufe

On September 30th, 2016 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was released in theaters. Based on the young adult novel by Ransom Riggs, and directed by Tim Burton, this ambitious film was one of the first fantasy film bids of the fall theater season.

This film caused a bit of a shake-up among members of the blog. It was originally seen by fellow Nerds that Geek contributor, Shae Rufe, but the review was held up because….she didn’t know how to describe what she saw. I then decided to take a crack at writing the review, which was still held back because I also returned from the theater…having absolutely no idea what I saw.

In order to make sure we still had an impression of the film on the blog, though, I decided to try a little experiment: our review or Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children would consist of a discussion between the two of us, featuring Shae’s opinion of the film, in hopes that my opinions, combined with hers, would result in a fully formed review of the movie. Here goes nothing….

Mike: So, first thing's first: we should make an attempt to describe the plot.

Shae: It had a plot? I kid, I kid.

Mike: Well, that is to say it had a plot that, foremost, belongs in a young adult fantasy novel: I'm a weird kid and my parents don't understand me, so I find a closed off world of even weirder people, and I like them more than normal life forever.

Shae: It definitely does speak to the young adult audience. I honestly think I would have fared better if I had actually read the novel it was based on before seeing the film. That being said, the plot was geared toward young children who don't fit in, which I do relate to as well with being legally blind. The idea of a safe place where different kids come together and form their own family was a real comfort and nice to see.

Mike: They also do that without, at least, completely, shunning the 'normals', at least in the revelation that Grandpa Abe Morton (Terence Stamp) might be making these stories up to prevent his grandson Jake (Asa Butterfield) from seeing the more realistic horrors of war torn England during World War II.

Shae: True, though I found that to be a cop out. I also felt that the lack of involvement of the parents was a little overboard.

Mike: I didn't, but perhaps that says more about me than it does the movie.....moving on. You'd probably agree that there's an awful lot going on with the fantasy element of this film. It doesn't work within the simplicity of the title: we've got strange children, caretakers who protect said strange children using stable time loops, a cabal of villains who experimented on themselves to be even stranger, and all the legitimate murder, re-animating death, and eerie Tim Burton fridge horror that happens in between.

Shae: It was more on the creepier side than I expected it to be, but it was kind of fun. The twins still freak me out.

Mike: I sailed pretty neatly through the entire thing without getting too uncomfortable, until about the third act with the patchwork mecha-elephant. If you have a phobia, you can be sure that Burton's got your number.

Shae: That is very true and he definitely exposes the weird and uncomfortable to his audience. I didn't care for the doll fighting scene at all.

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Mike: You can allow or deny me this: the movie is nearly 130 minutes long. The building blocks of what was in the original book, which I haven't read but I understand it's written from Jake's first person point of view, all admirably exist...but all that seems to take a wayside to how absolutely bonkers Tim Burton can make the visuals. By the end of the movie, you feel as crazy as someone who is merely making this story up as well, and once you're done with the whole-rollercoaster, you may feel bad because after all that weirdness you still might assume...the book has to be better...

​Shae: I actually agree completely. Had we stayed with Jake's POV we would have had a solid story start to finish and a cohesive plot. That being said I do love the elements it brought to light and the family aspect. Especially between Abe and Jake; I wanted far more of that.

Mike: That's usually the other side effect of Tim Burton's direction though: the characters ultimately end up as coming up with heart, because otherwise you can't stomach the narrative. Particularly, that's how I felt about Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), who is justified in everything she does, including shutting off everyone from the reality of the outside world, and regularly wielding a crossbow, all for the greater good.

Shae: I have to admit I did really like her character. I also do feel there was a lot of potential to give us more character development, because it was barely there.

Mike: As for a few other actors. I liked Asa Butterfield. Usually young male actors in the angst-teen role drive me up the wall. He's able to play this one off as a person genuinely fascinated by discovering his own macabre reality. Ella Purnell plays Emma, as a love interest, but one who is equally as okay with letting Jake vanish into obscurity, which is refreshing. But then there's Samuel L. Jackson....

Shae: I loved that the romance wasn't the center of the film. Samuel L. Jackson will forever be my favorite character in ANYTHING he does.

Mike: Really? I wasn't too sure about this one. You hope that putting him in a movie with white hair and a whole mouth of fangs would extend his repertoire, and I'm usually a defender of that as well. I think he diversified nicely as....Mace Windu, or something.

Shae: I don't know, I oddly just like everything he does and I love him as a villain.

Mike: So, all in all, did you like it?

Shae: I thought it was just alright. I do want to read the book, but I felt Burton took this interpretation a bit too far.

Mike: I've certainly seen movies do worse things with their source material. I enjoyed it too, though knowing that there are three more books in the series I wonder if Burton and/or Fox would consider taking this series further.

Shae: I didn't know there were other books. But we will see if they decide to make to another one. If the plot confused us, it has to have confused others. But hey, if the kids love it and it does well enough. I'm sure we will see another one.

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