#StayPeculiar: The Miss Peregrine Movie

***THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW.***

I didn't realize Tim Burton was capable of so much awesome...oh wait, it's Tim Burton, of course he's capable. But put him in the director's chair for a movie based on a Ransom Riggs novel, and made with an as-always seriously on-point screenplay by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Kingsman), and it's easy to say one of the most gifted cinematic visionaries of our time has outdone himself. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is not only Burton's best movie since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I now think it's Burton's best movie, period.

Can you see the monsters too?

For Burton fans in particular, this movie's a treat because it combines stylistic elements from his other movies in a surprisingly cool bit of self-pastiche. It starts out in Florida, so there's a bit of Edward Scissorhands in the creepy, pastel-colored Stepford Suburbia with an ominous other place just beyond the horizon - in this case, the swampy forests behind the home of Abe Portman, grandfather of our hero, Jake Portman. On the subject of Jake, Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender's Game) is the perfect fit for this role - the palest, skinniest, least outdoorsy teenage boy in Florida. Abe's nickname for him, "Tygrysku" (Polish for "little tiger"), he doesn't agree with it - he thinks he's more of a chicken. (Naturally, he'll soon prove himself wrong.) But back to the self-pastiching thing - in addition to Scissorhands, we also get a nice little bit of Nightmare-esque stop-motion in Enoch's first demonstration of his homunculi, and the otherworldly, colorful magnificence of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland - both of which really took me back to my teenage years when I first discovered Tim Burton. (Although I was actually twelve when Charlie first hit theaters, but close enough.)

Story-wise, the movie is, again, a lot like Charlie - it's pretty faithful to Riggs' novel, but then it starts slipping in some differences that make for a wildly different ending from the source material. Not only does this make the movie actually work very well as a standalone, it also averts that truly hellish cliffhanger from the book by incorporating twists that wouldn't have been out of place in Hollow City or Library of Souls.

One of the major changes, however, is the much-ballyhooed switching of Emma's and Olive's peculiarities, giving Emma air powers and Olive fire powers. Naturally, the trailers got a lot of fans riled up because of this, but not me. I love Jane Goldman's screenwriting work, and I thought she could do a good job with this little mix-up. As I watched the movie, I was a bit unsure, feeling that there was the (not-terribly-wanted) potential for a sticky little love triangle between Jake, Emma, and Olive. But no - shipping-wise, there's little deviation from the novel there, switching of peculiarities be damned. Hell, I think Goldman managed to do a better job writing Jake and Emma's relationship than Riggs ever did, focusing as much as she did on the tension between them. It's a bit of a nice foreshadowing of Butterfield's next role, too, in the upcoming movie The Space Between Us (where he'll be starring opposite Britt Robertson of Under the Dome and Tomorrowland fame.)

And in terms of other changes to the story - well, I can't really detail those without spoiling things, and I promised a spoiler-free review. But I can promise you this as well - there's a certain climactic fight scene that's equal parts awesome and funny (I had my jaw dropped pretty much the whole time), with slapdash, quick-cut shots of top-notch elemental combat and bloody amazing CGI work and even some cool music in the background, so other than the fantasy elements, it really smacks of Goldman, feeling like it wouldn't have been out of place in Kingsman. As much as I would have loved Tim Burton to help bring my story in Red Rain to life, up to now I didn't think he quite had the action chops to pull it off. But when paired with a Jane Goldman script, Burton can work magic he's never done before, and now I've really got to see what he would do with a Red Rain movie.

Speaking of magic, the peculiars themselves are so much fun to watch. The aforementioned elemental powers (which, when used to fight, are worthy of Avatar: The Last Airbender or Codex Alera), the protective badasses that are the ymbrynes (Miss Peregrine, of course, and Judi Dench as Miss Avocet), and even the dreaded villains, the hollows and wights, led by Samuel L. Jackson having WAAAAAAAY too much fun as Mr. Barron, late of the Society of Syndrigast Scientists. And of course the nature of the loops. Sure, the physics involved don't go as well-explained as they should, but they still make about as much sense as they do in the books, and for one movie, it's only too easy for me to park my brain at the door.

To all those involved in this A+ movie, all the props.

Till next time, Pinecones...

#FeedTheRightWolf

Remember - Denis Leary is always watching. Always.

Harry Potter Book Tag

So, I found this book tag thing posted by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts, and while he didn't specifically tag me, he did post at the end of his long, long list of tags, "...and you! (Tagging everyone is difficult.)"

I assume that means I'm free to take part? I hope so...because that's exactly what I'm about to do. It's a Harry Potter book tag, which basically means I need to do this, stat.

Ready? Here we go:

FLAGRATE - A book with an interesting premise but you'd like to rewrite it

That's easy - Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. Don't get me wrong, it had potential, but there's a reason why it's either love it or hate it. At some point, B.R. Myers put up a list of her top 5 movies Jennifer Lawrence should have been in, and Twilight was first on the list: "JL's Bella would have been burping and snorting her whole way through the script, endearing us to Bella in a way the book never could." This is the Twilight I would love to write myself, given half a chance - a darkly funny paranormal romance with tons of blood and guts. (What can I say? I need to get gloriously gory sometimes.)

ALOHOMORA - The first book in a series that got you hooked

Oh, there's so many tons of books I could place here...but I gotta go with one that's got a forthcoming movie adaptation from one of my favorite directors ever. I sometimes like to visit a Goodreads thread about "worst book you have ever read that's popular," and I'm frankly befuddled to see Ransom Riggs' Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children frequently appearing in the comments. That book is pretty much tailor-made for me, with its history-bending and time travel and fantastic paranormal powers...and of course the blood and guts. I'm certain Tim Burton has another masterpiece on his hands with the movie that comes out this September. #StayPeculiar, my friends.

ACCIO - A book you wish you could have right now

Zac Brewer's The Blood Between Us. More blood for the list, although in this case, it's more about family ties and how they can get seriously twisted - or so I understand from the blurbs. (Although I wouldn't be surprised if Uncle Zac wrote in scenes of actual blood, knowing him.) This Minion is first in line at the library for it, and eagerly awaiting its book birthday next month!

AVADA KEDAVRA - A killer book

Veronica Roth's Divergent. Like Miss Peregrine above, this book (and especially its sequels) are constantly showing up in the "worst popular book" thread, and I can sort of see why, given how polarizing the Divergent series is. But I was so enamored with the book when I blindly requested it as an 18th birthday present way back in 2011 that I simply can't see myself having never read and/or enjoyed the whole trilogy (plus the Four story collection). And hey, I successfully got my reluctant-reader sister to read and like the whole series too (it should be noted that she loathed Mockingjay for its ending.)

CONFUNDO - A book you found really confusing

Andrew Smith's The Marbury Lens. Joey, the same guy I got this tag from, also listed another book from the same author, The Alex Crow. That one confused me too, but not to the same level as The Marbury Lens, which was the stuff of David Lynch's nightmares. It's surreal to the nth degree, and as for its sequel Passenger, I remember little to none of it, other than a subplot thread about the MC dealing with his confusion about his sexuality (a theme that recurs throughout Smith's work, and one I can definitely relate to.) As with other Andrew Smith books, however, I recommend the Marbury Lens books for their sheer uniqueness alone.

EXPECTO PATRONUM - Your spirit book

Victoria Schwab's The Archived. I first discovered this book and its sequel, The Unbound, in early 2014 when I first started writing Red Rain, and I fell in love with its unique vision of the afterlife, one even more unique than my own. In fact, the library-like setting of these books contributed to me putting a library into the Second Universe afterlife of the Red Rain series. And when I later visited the Colma memorial park where my grandfather's ashes are kept, seeing a large section of the place designed to look like a library (with book-shaped urns) all but validated my Schwab-influenced vision.

SECTUMSEMPRA - A dark and twisted book

My other spirit book - Michelle Hodkin's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Despite being largely set in South Florida, this trilogy, like Dexter, existed in a state of more-or-less permanent shadow for me because of its creepy subject matter. All the kudos to Hodkin, though, for keeping the dark supernatural undercurrents bubbling under the surface throughout most of the first book, only to eventually plunge the reader headfirst into an urban-Gothic pool of Dark Eco, if you'll excuse my Jak and Daxter reference. Also, the three most important characters in this series (Mara, Noah, and Jamie) would totally make best friends with my very own Alex, Gabe, and Fionna, of that I'm sure.

APARECIUM - A book that surprised you in a great way

My first temptation was to put my recent re-read of The Raven Boys here, but I also remember another super-popular book I was quite reluctant to read at first - you can blame the shirtless dude on the cover, because how would people have reacted to seeing me carrying that around? (I was quite a sad and confused seventeen-year-old.) My high school librarian did eventually convince me, though, to read Cassandra Clare's City of Bones. I've never looked back, except to say that while I still love every one of her Shadowhunters novels, she only gets better and better as she goes on. Each book is longer, more complicated, and more laden with excellent relationships, romantic, platonic, parabatai, or otherwise. There has to be a peak somewhere, right? I can't imagine when Cassie Clare's will come, though.

And with that, I've got my Harry Potter book tags for you to enjoy. I don't know all that many people in the blogosphere (and most of these aren't on Blogger), but I'll tag them anyway just 'cause. And if you read this and don't see your name on this list, go ahead and do what I did - make your tag anyway!

B.R. Myers
Alex @ The Daily Life of a Teenage Aspie
Brett Michael Orr
Briana Mae Morgan
Tia @ Read It Write Now!
Megan and Cat @ Books of Fascination