“Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” disappoints with its slow pace

By Lilia Marmolejo

Staff Writer

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a decent movie with much room for improvement. It is a Tim Burton film based on a novel by Ransom Riggs.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children follows a young boy, Jack, who was diagnosed to be mentally ill after witnessing a terrible family tragedy; his grandfather’s murder.  Jack follows clues that take him to an abandoned orphanage on an island in Welsh. He uncovers many mysteries about the murder and learns about himself throughout his journey.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children thrills it’s audience with powerful characters, committed actors and an outstanding story line, although it tends to drag its pacing. Throughout the film props were also not properly used, the film also contained unnecessary scenes causing the movie to feel longer. The film also lacked in the romantic storyline between two characters.

The film consists of  multiple teases that did not help the film. In one scene Horace shares a precognition of main character, Jack leaning in to kiss Emma. There were many moments where the romantic story line could come into play. However it never did. This caused the film drag on and seem longer than what it was.

Though the movie magnificently displayed creativity, it was held down by poor usage of props. For instance, in one scene there was a pair of lead shoes that were blown up by a bomb, and character Emma left them behind to make a quick getaway. Later, Emma was seen wearing the lead shoes, as if the explosion had never occurred. Scenes like this were confusing to the viewer because it left the film with unfinished gaps that were poorly constructed.

The movie also contained unnecessary scenes that added no affect to the movie. When Emma used her peculiar ability to distract the villain it lacked in action. In this scene the dialogue exchanged was weak, it did not captivate its audience, and very few words were spoken by antagonist Barron.

Although the movie itself was poor, the acting sustained the film with performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green. Both showed an emotional and realistic commitment to their characters. Green did a wonderful job of playing the mysterious and quirky Peregrine, leaving the audience in awe. Jackson did an realistically performed the villainous character Barron. Throughout the film, his character became hated through his sick and twisted humor, allowing the audience to resonate with the films drama.

The film contained amazing actors and a great story line, but it dragged out, had poorly choreographed scenes and a very poor usage of props. Sadly Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children lacked in several areas and had to room for improvement.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is rated PG-13 and can be found in theaters nationwide.