Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

drew me to the theater because I try to catch everything director Tim Burton does and because I have a fan-boy crush on Eva Green.  I was concerned, though, because some of Burton's more recent efforts have been disappointing, and I worried that the film would contain entirely too much of the children and too little of Green.

I'm happy to report that though the children are indeed (and properly) the stars, the film shows us Burton in fine form, and Green is a strong presence for much of it.  I never expected to like this movie anywhere near as much as I did.

The baseline story is completely familiar but always a worthy starting point:  a child--here, a teenager--who's always wanted to be special but is not discovers lots of special kids and in the process his own special gifts.  What makes this version so entertaining is Burton's visuals, which are beautiful and compelling.  The actors also turn in good performances even when voicing lines that are occasionally rather silly.

I feel obliged to warn you that the film plays with time streams and does so rather sloppily, so you have to accept its machinations in this area with a rather large helping of suspension of disbelief.  Once you do, though, the game is afoot.

Catch Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in the theaters while you can, because the visuals deserve the big screen.