SYNOPSIS: From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.

REVIEW: Cine Marcos called this film a novelistic X-Men and I would have to agree with him. You may have heard others call it a Harry Potter meets X-Men film. A beautiful out of the way mansion, a bunch of kids with special abilities and a caretaker with a British accent. But that’s not where our story begins. Heck it’s not even the same era. Jacob is a teen boy living in Florida with his family. He is exceptionally close to his grandfather, Abe (Terrance Stamp) who seems to be a little on the senile side, or so everyone thinks what with his fabulous, incredible stories or his childhood in an orphanage far, far away and the peculiarly special children who lived there. Jacob was enchanted by his grandfather’s memories when he was small but as time went on he outgrew them. Within the first few minutes of the film you will find that Grandpa was not so off his rocker. Let’s just say that strange things happen and even stranger people come out of the shadows.

After tragedy, loss and a strong recommendation from his psychiatrist (Allison Janney), Jacob and his father (Chris O’Dowd) take a trip back to Wales where Abe grew up. Finding the orphanage and Miss Peregrine wasn’t as simple as Jacob thought because when he arrives, the orphanage is not only empty, but destroyed and the kids are nowhere to be found. Regarding the cinematography, I have to say as a Florida girl myself, I’ve got to point out that what was supposed to be Florida just didn’t convince me but that said, the scenes of Wales were just beautiful. The film is visually gorgeous in so many ways. The change between two different eras is incredible and believable, the costumes are lovely, and the peculiar children themselves along with each of their “peculiarities” are eerily stunning and charming. Miss Peregrine, played beautifully by Eva Green, is a strong, protective headmistress with an undercurrent of melancholy. There are some hidden gems in the cameos, such as Rupert Everett and Dame Judy Dench. Samuel L. Jackson is menacing as Barron, a peculiar who seeks out the loops in his efforts to do his particular, peculiar evil on the young wards.

The film began a little slow for my taste but after just a little bit, it will keep you on the edge of your seat. You will see Tim Burton all over this film. Some people out there will say that this is his best film yet, and I won’t go that far, but it is good and worth seeing. I’m not sure if the little ones in your home will handle the scary bits too well, but this is a great film to see with your preteens and teens, heck, Cine Marcos and I took our 32 year old friend Maria who is like a daughter to us and she really liked it……except for the shadows. Don’t ask, just go see it for yourself.