I am not very familiar with Tim Burton's work (only watched a handful of his movies), neither have I read the book, so I will review this movie as it is, without comparing it to the usual craftsmanship of Mr. Burton nor the characters or events as depicted in the source material.
I found the movie entertaining, and at no point did I wonder "How long more is this going to be?" Any movie that never prompts me to ask this question automatically gets a 6 out of 10.
Many reviews mentioned about huge plot holes in the movie, but I never really understood what the plot holes were that make this a terrible movie. I thought the story was quite easy to follow, even with all the time loops, and makes sense in the make-believe world that we are watching. I usually have trouble making sense of time- travel stories, so the ability to simplify complicated concepts and making it easy to understand for me deserves another star for intelligence. Though probably it wasn't easy enough for a seven year-old to comprehend.
I also thought the soundtrack was quite good, I actually stayed till the credits finished rolling to enjoy the music. This, along with the camera work, gets another star to make it 8 out of 10.
To be honest, if the voting score is in increment of 0.5, I would be more inclined to vote it 7.5 out of 10. I don't expect character development for all the "peculiar children" in a movie like this (that would perhaps be more fitting for a drama series), but the acting can be improved. Eva Green has the best "on-screen presence", but she doesn't appear until 30 minutes into the movie, so a bit of patience is necessary. Also I found the editing a bit too abrupt at some points, but that's about all the complaints I have.
I am quite satisfied with the movie, considering the amount of bad reviews I have been exposed to. :)
