Movie Review: Miss Peregrine's Missed the Boat

After reading Ransom Riggs' amazing debut novel this summer, I was thrilled to go see the movie adaptation. With my 3-D glasses and super sized soda, I was ready for some thrills, some magical moments, and the depth I got from the book.

At the beginning, I was thrilled about the adaptation. While I gave the book a 4 out of 5 star because it moved too slowly at the beginning, the movie jumped right in. Some changes were made, but I was okay with them because I enjoyed getting to Miss Peregrine's Home sooner.

The first half of the movie was pure magic. I loved the actress who played Emma and thought she had good chemistry with Jake. I also loved Miss Peregrine's portrayal in the movie as it stuck to the book for the most part. Burton managed to give us the magic of the home while also showing some of the horrors, some of the negatives. It had a thoroughly creepy feel mixed with magic, a difficult feat to pull off.

The last portion of the movie, however, ruined everything for me. Suddenly there were strange, killing skeletons that were more cheesy than creepy. The suspense Burton had been building collapsed in a semi-goofy, odd scene that really lost the wonderful, creepy feel we had up until this point. I think Burton would have been better off to stick to Riggs' initial vision for the story line; although the book's ending was less dramatic perhaps than the version in the movie, I think it stayed true to the characters and the plot. The last twenty minutes of the movie made me want toss my terrible 3D glasses early and head out the door with my popcorn. 

Typically, a movie has a hard time living up to my expectation after a book. I understand things have to be adapted, I do. If the ending hadn't become so oddly corny, I would have been okay with the other changes. However, I think whoever approved the ending of this movie lost sight of the initial mood and feel of both the book and movie.

Overall, I would rate the movie a 3 out of 5 star watch. If there is a sequel produced, I'm honestly not sure I'd be running to see it at this point.