Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (12A)

three stars

Dir: Tim Burton

With: Eva Green, Samuel L Jackson

Runtime: 127 minutes

RANSOM Riggs’ spooky and beguiling novel is brought to the screen by, who else, Tim Burton. With a screenplay by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass) and a cast that includes Judi Dench and Samuel L Jackson, the tale of gifted children battling the forces of evil starts off with a flourish, as young Jake (Asa Butterfield) tries to understand who or what did for his lovely grandpa (Terence Stamp). Burton and Goldman labour over the story’s twists and turns, making for a picture that seems to last an eternity, and though a family film, some of the scenes have a high fright factor. Plenty of Burton’s trademark visual brilliance, though.

Alison Rowat