The Spiderwick Chronicles (Widescreen Edition)

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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 06/24/2008 Run time: 101 minutes Rating: Pg

Amazon.com
A very good adaptation of the popular series of books by Tony DiTerllizi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the few family films in recent years to seamlessly integrate magical elements with a potent drama that will strike a chord with many kids. An exceptionally talented Freddie Highmore (August Rush) plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, caught up in a sad shock from their parents' divorce and coping with a decision by their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) to uproot the boys and their sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger), from New York City to a small town. There, the broken family moves into a spooky old mansion passed on to them by the kids' great-aunt, Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is spending her twilight years in managed care and whose scientist father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), disappeared some 80 years ago. Jared, angry, defiant, and determined to live with the father who seems to have abandoned him, investigates strange happenings and discovers Arthur's secret notations on fairies, ogres, and other mythical creatures that live both in and outside the house. Having no idea where his curiosity is leading, Jared soon finds that he and his family are under siege from goblins and a powerful ogre (Nick Nolte) who wants Arthur's notebook. Suddenly, the boy who is a lightning rod for a troubled family becomes a resourceful warrior intent on saving his loved ones from powerful forces. The Spiderwick Chronicles benefits enormously from a script (partially written by John Sayles) that treats, quite seriously, the emotional pain of its human characters and makes Jared's will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise fantastic story. It helps, too, that director Mark Waters, who brings a warm and knowing touch to outlandish material (Freaky Friday), has a way of making the spectacular elements of The Spiderwick Chronicles genuine enough to stir real excitement and suspense. This is one of the better film adaptations of best-selling fiction for kids in some years. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews: Read 91 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Amazing Graces June 18, 2008
35 out of 38 found this review helpful

Short Attention Span Summary (SASS)

1.Helen Grace moves into the Spiderwick Estate with her three kids, Mallory, Simon and Jared. Simon and Jared are twins (played by the impressive Freddie Highmore)
2.It doesn't take the kids long to find a secret room, a locked chest and a book marked "Do NOT read"
3.You can guess what happens next
4.Up pops a tiny Brownie named Thimbletack (Martin Short) who changes into a Boggart when riled up.
5.He gets riled up a lot
6.There's an evil Ogre named Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) who commands an army of Goblins, and really, really wants the aforementioned book
7.The Ogre can change his appearance, and is at his most frightening when he looks like Nick Nolte.
8.During the machinations and shenanigans to protect the book, the kids meet a scene stealing Hobgoblin named Hogsqueal (Seth Rogen) who has a talent for expectorating and a penchant for bipedal, endothermic vertebrate animals that lay eggs (also known as birds)
9.The kids set off on a quest to find the author of the book, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn)
10.When they get back, they have to quickly work out a strategy for repelling Goblins and an Ogre who looks like the Grinch on steroids.
11.Exciting yet somewhat disturbing altercation ensues
12.Just desserts are served for the grand finale.

The movie is based on the five books that make up The Spiderwick Chronicles, but barely touches book three, Lucinda's Secret and never touches book four, The Ironwood Tree. There are a few small differences, but for the most part the movie captures the spirit of the series.

Relatively short, it's ideal for kids from around ten or so, as there are some mildly scary scenes and one close to the end that could be disturbing until the twist is revealed.

It's also recommended that you get the series for your young `uns. The books are short, easy to read and full of magical and fantastical adventures. Don't forget the follow-up The Nixie's Song (Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1), and the soon to be released A Giant Problem (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles)

The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles)
The Seeing Stone (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 2)
The Wrath of Mulgarath (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 5)

Amanda Richards, June 18, 2008

3 out of 5 stars

Probably a lot better if you've read the books February 18, 2008
28 out of 44 found this review helpful

Mom and Dad separate and Mom takes the kids to live in a mysterious old house she inherited. Immediately, son Jared discovers a book written by their distant uncle, Arthur Spiderwick; it's all about the fairy world around them and especially evil Mulgarath and his goblins who live just outside their house.

I assume the target audience for this film is young children, especially those who have enjoyed The Spiderwick Chronicles. As an adult who hasn't read the books, I was confused and bored, despite the beautiful photography and music and the clever CGI effects. There was nothing that drew me in or thrilled me. I think it would have been better if the children had been younger; as teenagers, they looked too old to be cavorting with fairies and scared of goblins. They didn't have enough charisma to make me care about them, and the wonderful David Strathairn was completely miscast as Spiderwick. I think very young children would be scared by the scary creatures zooming around. Great title, but not much here for adults.

3 out of 5 stars

Lower your expectations... February 23, 2008
18 out of 27 found this review helpful

I went into seeing this movie with high expectations. I love the books, and I love their possibilities more, and one of those possibilities was a truly extraordinary movie. But that wasn't what I got.

The plot, what there is of it, hinges around three siblings, Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, and their rather quick-to-judge mother. When the Graces move into Spiderwick Manor following a divorce, Jared finds a book - a field guide - that he soon realizes should never have been uncovered.

This should have been a great movie. And yet, I could tell from the first few minutes that it wouldn't be. Aside from the many great scenes and moments from the books thrown away (Mallory's kidnap, the mother's kidnap, the various other creatures besides goblins, hobgoblins, and griffins) the acting is relatively stiff, except for the good performances of Freddie Highmore as twins Simon and Jared, and the "batty" Aunt Lucinda. The direction, too, could have been better; as it was it seemed hasty, thrown together, juvenile, and trying-to-be-modern (like Jared's oft-shown cell phone and iPod).

The ending was really quite dumb and had me rolling my eyes as all the young boys in the theater guffawed. I honestly can't remember if the villain was disposed of like that in the books, but if he was, it was done better than in this movie.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible movie, but it certainly wasn't a great one, and it didn't come near the quality of the books. The books simply had more atmosphere, creativity, and overall charm.

Rating: Average

4 out of 5 stars

Fun fantasy flick February 17, 2008
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

The Grace family moves into an old family estate, long uninhabited - or so they think. In fact the house has an inhabitant. More to the point, the woods around the house have their own trolls and gnomes, unfriendly ones, who want something that's inside the house.

So starts this kids' fantasy, with a big element of "the grownups just don't get it." In this case, young Jared not only finds that thing that the invisible ouside beings want, he also perceives their threat first. A kid-empowerment fantasy ensues, with the grownups (including a teen sister in a half-grownup kind of role) finally catching on just barely in time.

If you want a bit of fantasy without overt violence (or not much), and with people keeping their clothes on, you came to the right place. There's a suitably scary buildup at the end, with some great CGI effects like those toad-like outside beings. Maybe it's not memorable, but it's fun anyway.

-- wiredweird, reviewing the theatrical release

4 out of 5 stars

Fantasy by the Book February 14, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

I could use this review of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" as a platform to describe how different it is from the five books that inspired it, but why bother? After years of hearing it in college English classes, I've finally come to accept the adage that movies are not books, and books are not movies. As a film, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is charming, magical, and a lot of fun, which is about what one would expect from a family-oriented fantasy film. The characters are compelling and the story is effectively simple and good-hearted, telling a tried and true story that an audience can willingly enjoy. I'm not so deluded as to think this an original story; the Reluctant Hero, the Magical Creatures, and the Fight Against Evil are all too familiar at this point. On the same token, I'm not so cold-hearted as to dismiss it entirely. This is, quite simply, an effective movie.

The story focuses on the Grace family and its bumpy transition into a new life, one that happens to include an adventure into a world of goblins, ogres, sprites, and brownies. The mom, Helen (Mary-Louise Parker), now a divorcee, moves with her children out of New York City and into the dilapidated former home of her great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick. Her teenage daughter, Mallory (Sarah Bolger), is headstrong, bossy, and a champion fencer. Her identical twin boys--Jared and Simon (both played by Freddie Highmore)--are polar opposites: Simon is a quiet pacifist who loves to read and connects with animals; Jared is angry, bitter, and rebellious, not only because his father left him, but also because he bears the brunt of his mother's anger. Adjusting to a new life won't be easy for him, especially since his new house looks like it was taken straight from the panels of a Charles Addams comic strip.

The adventure proper begins the very night they arrive. Jared immediately hears something scurrying in the walls, and after busting a wall open with a broomstick, he finds a dumbwaiter filled with various knickknacks (such as Mallory's fencing medal, which she believes he stole). He also finds a key. He then enters the dumbwaiter and pulls himself up to the attic, which contains a secret library coated in dust; in one corner sits a large chest, and lo and behold, the key fits into the lock. Jared unlocks it, opens the lid, and finds a book with a warning attached to the front, something about not opening the book because you'd risk your life doing so. He ignores it, of course, which is fine since there wouldn't be a story otherwise. Inside, Jared discovers that it's a field guide created by Arthur Spiderwick over eighty years ago, one that explains everything about the magical world around us with illustrations and notes.

At around this point, Jared discovers what's been scurrying through the walls: his name is Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short), an easily provoked brownie that loves honey and can only be seen if he wants you to see him. He's in a panic because Jared has discovered the book, and this will not do since Thimbletack's job was to protect it at any cost. Jared is learning more about the creatures that inhabit our world, namely that they can't be seen without a special ring-shaped stone. Thimbletack gives Jared the stone, and he looks through it in time to see Simon dragged off by a mean group of ugly ogres; the ensuing rescue attempt reveals that a powerful, shape shifting ogre named Mulgarath (voiced by Nick Nolte) wants Spiderwick's book for his own malevolent reasons.

This is pretty much the foundation for the journey, one that sees Mallory joining her brothers, a visit to their great aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright) in a mental institution, and a few sequences with Arthur Spiderwick himself (David Strathairn), a man who walks with a cane because it makes him look scholarly. We're also treated to a number of impressive visual effects, not the least of which have to do with a number of creatures that hide in plain sight. I especially liked the sprites that take the form of ordinary flowers--I'd love to walk through a park with such creatures floating around me. We also meet Hogsqueal (voiced by Seth Rogen), a hobgoblin that loves to eat birds, and a griffin named Byron, who flies majestically above clouds, over mountains, and through caves.

There was also an interesting subplot about the house itself. Apparently, it's surrounded by a ring of toadstools that act as a kind of force field; nothing magical can cross that line either way, meaning that the book is safe so long as it remains in the house. Jared, being the willful young lad he is, takes it with him wherever he goes, which is one of the reasons why Thimbletack is always so high-strung. Is it any wonder that his anger forces him into acts of mischief, such as tying Mallory's hair to the posts of her bed, or switching the field guide with a cookbook when Jared isn't looking?

As routine as this material is, all of it still manages to be wonderful, so much so that we don't stop to think about the film's weaker aspects, namely the tension and resentment growing between Jared and his mother. Then again, that too would have been unoriginal, since it's been explored so many times in so many other movies. Ultimately, what we really care about is the fight between the Graces and Mulgarath--or to more general, the fight between Good and Evil. The final confrontation has some nice subtleties that I wouldn't dream of giving away, not only because they're clever, but also because they're expected. I recommend "The Spiderwick Chronicles" to everyone, even to diehard fans of the book series created by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black; it's an easy-going fantasy fable, about as enjoyable as a green pasture swarming with sprites.

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