Spooky time travel plays to strengths

TIM BURTON has always pushed to the limit the creativity and escapism that cinema affords.

Reality is not a word in this director’s vocabulary — only fantasy — and his latest offering, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, is no different.

The film is based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Ransom Riggs.

When American teenager 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, he realises 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. Burton’s films are best seen in 3D to really immerse yourself in the world he brings to the big screen, and Henley’s Regal Cinema is offering screenings in both formats.



The director also has a wealth of stars to call upon. Top of the pile is Eva Green, who seems to fit in with Burton’s film style having appeared as a main character in Sky Atlantic’s spooky Gothic offering, Penny Dreadful. Alongside her are Asa Butterfield, Chris O’Dowd, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, Judi Dench and Samuel L Jackson.

So far, so good. But, as always, with any film that takes its inspiration from literature it requires great skill to remain true to the original, while making it your own.

This shouldn’t be a problem for a talent such as Burton though, whose strengths lie in his imagination, inventiveness and originality and, simply, the ability to tell a good story.

Undoubtedly, audiences of all ages are likely to find enjoyment in this film and even those who have never heard of the book will want to see what magical world Burton has created this time.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is now showing at the Regal Cinema.