A Peculiar Movie Adaptation

*SPOILER ALERT*

Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was released at the end of last month. For fans of the books like me and my little sister, it was very highly anticipated. So, we made it a family event and went to see it together.

To start off, I'll talk about the movie independently from the book. It was extremely beautiful and had a wonderful, slightly creepy aesthetic that we've grown to expect from Tim Burton. The movie also had very light and pretty parts, which is rare! The CGI was well incorporated, with the skeletons and reanimated creatures Enoch created. Also, the monsters were very scary in my opinion- the perfect horror blend of gruesome and mysterious.

Another criticism that is often heard from this movie was that it was extremely hard to follow. I could definitely say I agree. I read the book about a year ago, so some things came back to me- but I still forgot a lot. I don't think I would have been able to follow the movies complicated plot and twists if I didn't read it before. My mom, who never read the book, came out of the theater completely confused. I couldn't even explain it to her! It's an extremely original and unique idea, so it really needed more explanation in the movie.

Yet, when comparing it to the book is where many people started having problems. The first half of the movie follows the plot line of the book alright, but the second half is an odd mixture of the other books as well as its own original tangent. Another thing that completely dismayed many fans was the mix up of the characters. In the books, Emma had the power of fire control, while in the movie; she controlled air and was weightless. The power of weightlessness was originally Olive's and in the movie Olive was aged up. In the books, there was no romantic plot between Olive and Enoch, who were also aged up! For many fans, these changes were disastrous, but I considered them well placed. To me, the aging up of the characters was a positive, and it made the relationships of some of the characters more dynamic than if they where young children. I thought that it widened the age range of the viewers that could enjoy this movie.

My sister who went with me said, "I didn't like it because it felt like they were trying too hard to make it exciting, when the book already had an eerie feel to it."

Overall, I thought this movie was drastically different from the book, but it was a wonderful interpretation and translated into a whimsical movie.