**Despite the flaws, and some less than positive interpretations, it is a good film.**
Tim Burton has already accustomed us to a surreal and fantastic style, and he almost always gives us very good films. This movie is no exception, giving us good entertainment. It's based on a book, which I've never read and I don't know what it's like, although I've heard that it's frankly more interesting than this movie. However, Tim Burton has already shown that he doesn't care much about this, in previous works that we have seen.
The script is surreal and fantastic, based on a teenager's trip to the British Isles, to see his grandfather's place of origin, recently deceased. There, he discovers the ruins of the orphanage where his grandfather grew up, destroyed by German bombing and never rebuilt. And later he discovers that his childhood friends and the orphanage's governess are still alive and living in a time loop created the day the house was razed. And that there is a danger that will threaten them all.
Overall, the film is quite satisfying, entertains quite well, and has a beautiful, well-written story. This is due, in large part, to the way in which he tackles difficult topics such as mourning and the family relationship between a father and a son. There are some little-explained details, loose ends, situations that don't get the attention they could have, and I thought the film takes a while to "gear" and really capture our interest.
Among the cast of this film, no one stands out like the impeccable Eva Green. The actress has what it takes for the character that fits her, and she knows how to make the most of her charisma and the good quality of the material given to her by the screenwriter. Terence Stamp was also in good shape and did a good job. Among the younger actors, it is Ella Purnell who stands out the most on a positive note, although Finlay MacMillan and Lauren McCrostie also give us very satisfactory performances. Unfortunately, as far as the cast is concerned, everyone else can't achieve such a good performance: Judi Dench, Rupert Everett and Chris O'Dowd have neither characters nor screen time to allow them to do something really interesting. Despite having achieved some good moments, Samuel L. Jackson looks like a fish out of water in this work. But the one who really deserves a boo is Asa Butterfield. It was a bad choice, a casting error. The actor doesn't have charisma, he doesn't have the capacity to deal with the protagonist, and he wasn't very lucky with the material he received either (and here, the fault lies with the screenwriter and the way he conceived and worked his character). Far from capturing attention and holding our interest, the actor fades away from any of his co-stars.
Another of the strong points of this film are the visual effects and the excellent CGI used. The house, for example, couldn't be more realistic, and the skeletons and ship look great on screen too. The cinematography was very well worked, the camera does a good job, the sets and especially the costumes and hairstyles are excellent and automatically transport you to the 40s. I really liked some of the places where the film was made, highlighting In particular, there is a famous Belgian mansion near Antwerp, which has been in ruins since the Second World War and which was demolished shortly after this film was released. The soundtrack does an effective job, but it doesn't bring us any surprises.
