Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children update April 2022

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 2016

Update 17 April 2022

• Director: Tim Burton
• Based on book by Ransom Riggs
• Cast: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Terence Stamp, Samuel L Jackson, Judi Dench, Rupert Evert, Allison Janney, Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Finlay MacMillan, Lauren McCrostle
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Eva Green – Dark Shadows, Perfect Sense, Casino Royale, Kingdom of Heaven
• Asa Butterfield – The Space Between Us, Hugo, Merlin, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Son of Rambow
• Terence Stamp – Song for Marion, Valkyria, Wanted, Star Wars, The Limey, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Superman, The Collector, Billy Budd
• Samuel L Jackson – Jumper, 1408, Extras, Kill Bill 2, Changing Lanes, The Red Violin, The Negotiator, Jackie Brown, Long Kiss Goodnight, Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, True Romance, Jurassic Park, Lethal Weapon, Jungle Fever, Mo’ Better Blues, Do the Right Thing, Ragtime
• Judi Dench – The Hollow Crown, Spectre, Hotel Marigold 1&2, Philomena, Vicious, Skyfall, My Week with Marilyn, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jane Eyre, Cranford, Nine, Quantum of Solace, Notes on a Scandal, Casino Royale, Mrs Henderson Presents, Ladies in Lavender, Die Another Day, The Shipping News, Chocolat, The World Is Not Enough, Tea with Mussolini, Shakespeare in Love, Tomorrow Never Dies, Mrs Brown, Hamlet, Golden Eye, Henry V, A Handful of Dust, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Room with a View, Macbeth
• Rupert Evert – St Trinian’s 2, Stardust, To Kill a King, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, Shakespeare in Love, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Madness of King George, Dance with a Stranger
• Allison Janney – Girl on the Train, The Help, Life During Wartime, Juno, The Hours, Nurse Betty, American Beauty, 10 Things I Hate about You, The Ice Storm
• Chris O’Dowd – The Boat that Rocked, Vera Drake
• Ella Pernell – Never Let Me Go
• Why? Tim Burton
• Seen: 15 September 2018      

       Young Jake (Butterfield) is a nerd ridiculed by his classmates in Florida. His grandfather Abe (Stamp) has dementia. Or maybe all his crazy ramblings are real. Creepy things really are happening.

       Abe had lived a time in Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar children on an island off Wales. His parents had sent him there in 1943 because it was dangerous in Poland. While Jake was growing up Abe told him stories about the home and the children. When Abe dies Jake goes looking for the island with his less than enthusiastic father. They find the island, but the children’s home is in ruins. It had been bombed in 1943 by the Germans and there were no survivors.

       Jake explores the ruins and discovers the ghosts of everyone Abe had told him about. Ghosts? No. He’s now in the year 1943. Before the bomb fell.

       Not only are the children peculiar, the film is rather peculiar itself. Is it a kids’ movie? A love story? A scary movie? An adventure movie? A comedy?

       Well, it’s Tim Burton. 

3 ½ * of 5    

Update 18 April 2022

There’s not really much to add. I just read the book and since I knew the basic story there were no surprises. It’s an OK book but once again the film, though no masterpiece, is better than the book.