“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is a fantasy adventure movie directed by Tim Burton (“Alice Through the Looking Glass”), based on Ransom Riggs’ 2011 book by the same name.

The film stars Jacob “Jake” Portman, played by Asa Butterfield (“Ender’s Game”), a seemingly ordinary teenage boy living in Florida with his parents and grandfather Abe, played by Terence Stamp (“Big Eyes”).

Ever since Jake was a young boy, his grandfather told him stories about a mansion in Wales that is home to children with unique abilities, known as “peculiarities,” headed by Miss Alma Peregrine, played by Eva Green (“Penny Dreadful”), who can control time and turn into a peregrine falcon.

As he grew older, he discredited his grandfather’s stories as mere fiction, but when Jake’s home and grandfather are attacked by a monster from Abe’s stories, Jake starts to realize that the stories were not just stories, and he convinces his father to take him to Wales in search of Miss Peregrine’s home.

It is a good movie that has all the right elements in perfect balance. The plot is unique and interesting while the characterization is a little weak, but that may be since the personalities of the characters were not presented up front. The exposition is not painfully drawn out or confusingly shortened. The humor feels natural and not forced. The internal conflict nicely parallels the plot-related tension and drama. This is topped off with the tense and exciting action scenes toward the end. There is even the element of teenage romance, typical for PG-13 movies with adolescent protagonists. It feels complete and it is a genuinely enjoyable theater experience. It even includes a classic “spot the imposter” scene.

The film’s weakest points were the lack of logic and explanation. At first, Jake seems like a reckless and irrational protagonist because of how he acts early in the movie, such as not staying put when another character tells him to, even after finding a bloody flashlight. However, this turns out to be out of care for his grandfather and not just out of an irrational curiosity. He is not the most dynamic character, but he is likable nonetheless.

One moment in particular stands out as completely nonsensical: one character, Olive (Lauren McCastle “The Falling”) uses the weight of her lead shoes to sink down into deep water, but swims with no problem once she reaches the bottom. Moments like this where things seem to happen for the sake of the shot or action, but are otherwise illogical, but this one in particular stands out.

This is one of those films that is nowhere as good as the book. However, this is understandable for books of such length and genre, because most things must be explained that might take a whole page condensed into the span of a few seconds or a minute and other things simply have to be left out entirely or left up to the viewer to infer.