Based on the popular series of children's novels of the same name by Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children contains a variety of colorful characters that seem to be reminiscent of the mutants from X-Men and the wizards from Harry Potter. The main protagonists of Tim Burton's fantasy movie are all children with "Peculiarities," who thrive under Miss Peregrine's watchful eye until the dreaded Hollows track them down.
The movie has been divisive for fans of the source material, though viewers needn't have read the books to get enjoyment out of the movie's kaleidoscopic visuals or its whimsical plot. Viewers' interpretation of the characters may depend on their attachment to the books, their critique of the performers portraying them, or the inconsistency of the script.
10 Best: Jake Portman
Swept up in the circumstances of an unusual family secret, Jake is an adventurous and precocious teenager who shows fearlessness and insight beyond his years. When he discovers Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, he forms strong attachments to all the inhabitants and becomes their de facto protector, thanks to his own peculiar power of seeing normally invisible Hollows.
Jake undergoes a typical Hero's Journey throughout the movie, but has a believable temperament and inquisitive personality, making him someone the audience can root for and relate to. He isn't quite as whip-smart as his book counterpart but Asa Butterfield's charm goes a long way.
9 Best: Abe Portman
The incomparable Terrence Stamp lends his gravitas to the character of Abe Portman, Jake's eccentric grandfather and a peculiar who has passed down the ability to see the Hollows to his grandson. He's also one of the only peculiars who managed to escape his time loop before the destruction of the manor in 1943.
Like all good mysterious grandfathers in these sorts of movies, he has the right amount of avuncular and crypticness. He inspires Jake to go on a grand adventure that will surely transform him at the right formative age, where reason and logic of adulthood are vying to strip him of his imagination and ruin his childhood.
8 Best: Enoch O'Connor
Enoch (Finlay MacMillan) is the resident sourpuss at Miss Peregrine's Home, whose ability to reanimate dead things and turn them into his own personal puppets is both unnerving and totally on point for a Tim Burton movie. This gift comes in quite handy in the climactic battle at the end of the movie.
Enoch isn't happy about being stuck in a time loop or being the same age forever. He also wasn't very happy with Jake getting all the attention as the new kid, which are valid complaints. Enoch represents pragmatism and realism, which aren't always looked at favorably, but still add value.
7 Best: Miss Peregrine
Eva Green, while perhaps not perfectly cast as Miss Peregrine, carries the movie with her wily charisma. As a Ymbryne, she can transform herself into a peregrine falcon and has the ability to manipulate time, making others like herself responsible for protecting peculiar children.
By picking "the right day and the right time," she's able to make a loop in which her wards can reside, protected from the outside world. Since she had to make hers in a hurry, there are various dangers she must prevent daily that come with the temporal territory.
6 Best: Mr. Barron
Samuel L. Jackson is delightful as Mr. Barron, the leader of the Wights who hunt peculiars and consume their eyes to remain in human form. His failed experiment to become immortal transformed most of his cohort into Hollowgasts, and while he no longer needs eyes to remain a human, he does everything he can to help his friends.
Mr. Barron has the ability to transform into a variety of different people, including Jake's therapist Dr. Golan, which makes him incredibly deceitful. His hands can also form blades, lassos, and several other tools, making him a formidable threat to Miss Peregrine and the peculiars.
5 Can't Stand: Frank Portman
Jake's father Frank (Chris O'Dowd) is a photographer and bird watcher, too timid to expand either interest beyond a hobby because of feelings of inadequacy. Growing up in the shadow of Abe's accomplishments as a hero of WWII, Frank yearned for a connection with his father but couldn't relate to his wild stories about Ymbryne's like Miss Peregrine, and her peculiar wards.
Abe's peculiar powers skipped a generation, which may have contributed to Frank growing up uninterested in exploring anything because it's "already been found." But Frank's real weakness is that he is not able to use his imagination to connect with his son.
4 Can't Stand: Fiona Frauenfeld
Fiona (Georgia Pemberton) can have control over her natural environment, making plants and vegetation grow to unusual sizes whenever it suits her. She's one of the more precocious children Jake meets, but other than creating the World's Largest Carrot for supper, she isn't given much to do in the plot of the movie.
In the books, she's a wild-haired, Poison Ivy-esque young girl, who runs about holding chickens and doesn't speak because of the horrors she witnessed during Ireland's Potato Famine. Her movie counterpart is much more tame and far more chatty. Instead of being stubborn and brave, she's often made out to be an "annoying little sister archetype."
3 Can't Stand: Emma Bloom
Emma (Ella Purnell) is one of the oldest children under Miss Peregrine's watch, which puts her in charge of the younger wards. She has the ability to manipulate air and even breathe underwater. She also has to wear special lead shoes so that she won't float into the atmosphere. However, in the books, she has Olive's peculiarity - the ability to manipulate fire.
Like her aerokinetic powers, Emma is obtuse and confusing. In the books, she's fiery and determined, whereas the movie sees her much more subdued and doll-like. As for her powers, sometimes she needs to be tied into a chair (for meals), and other times, it seems her weightlessness isn't as much of a problem. There's also the oddity of her falling in love with Jake because he looks like her former lover (his grandfather).
2 Can't Stand: Hollowgast
Hollowgasts were once Wights but became sightless monstrosities after Mr. Barron led his cohort in a ritual to gain immortality. They transformed into lanky-limbed creatures with razor-sharp teeth and odd stumps for hands and feet.
"Hollows," as Miss Peregrine calls them, may have seemed like a good idea, taken directly from the books, but the creatures end up being one of the weaker parts of the movie itself for a variety of reasons. Like their lore, their CGI properties are muddled, and how they interact with their environment in juxtaposition to the rest of the characters is confusing and awkward.
1 Can't Stand: Olive Abroholos Elephanta
Olive (Lauren McCrostie) is a peculiar with the ability to set things on fire, which requires her to wear chic evening gloves throughout the entire movie. But other than that, she isn't given many interesting things to do. She's supposed to be Enoch's love interest (a detour from the book), but other than pining over him, they have no chemistry.
Olive supports Enoch's bad decisions and poor attitude without questioning why she has feelings for someone who only acknowledges her when she's useful to him as a glorified laboratory assistant.
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December 31, 2020 at 04:30AM
