Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures.
Hogsqueal: "Do birds live in these little houses? Jared: Yeah. Hogsqueal: Oh my gosh, that's genius! Who thought of that? You can stick your tongue right in it!" [begins slobbering over a birdhouse]
Hollywood has many tendencies. Sequels, remakes, TV shows turned into films... etc, etc. One of its most recent ones is their (often successful) attempts to cash in on the enormous popularity of many fantasy children's novels. Harry Potter is, of course, the epitome of the tendency, but besides J. K. Rowling many other authors have seen (from home or their grave) their work turned into money-making enterprises. Names like C. S. Lewis or William Joyce come to mind.
As someone who loathes most of said tendencies, I was more than ready to see The Spiderwick Chronicles become another series of kid-oriented fantasy novels brought to the big screen in the hopes of jump-starting another ready-made film franchise. And as someone who has probably seen more films of this type than anyone who doesn't have offspring of his own, I can't say that I pushed play on my DVD remote with anything resembling glee. That said, while the film doesn't exactly reinvent the genre or offer viewers much of anything new, it does offer a certain number of pleasures for those who think that they have seen it all before, including some nice bits of humour here and there, a surprisingly serious undertone and a gleefully over-the-top finale that will no doubt delight kids and make cynical adults chuckle. I did. And I loved it.
The not-as-cute-as-in-a-couple-of years-ago Freddie Highmore, in a dual role, plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace and as the film opens, they, along with older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) and harried mum Helen (Mary-Louise Parker) are arriving at a ramshackle house in the woods, the former home of a distant relative, where they're going to make a new start following their parents' separation. While his siblings and mother try to make the best of the situation, the angsty Jared is petulant about the entire situation - he hates having to leave New York for the backwoods, he blames his mother for the separation and he is eagerly waiting the sure-to-be-soon moment when his dad (Andrew McCarthy) will come along to rescue him.
While knocking around the house, Jared discovers a hidden room that contains a bunch of weird-looking specimens and a book bearing a note begging those who look upon to not even open the book if they know what is good for them. Of course, Jared ignores this warning and discovers that the tome is a sort of field guide that was written 80 years earlier by the distant and long-vanished relative Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) chronicling the various mystical creatures - gnomes, faeries and the like - that surround us even though they're invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen by humans when it's their wish.
This is all neat stuff - that is, it is neat until a rhyming elf by the name of Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short) reveals himself to Jared to explain the dangers that he has unknowingly unleashed by freeing the book from its hiding place. It seems that there's an army of monsters, led by the fearsome Mulgrath (Nick Nolte), lurking in the woods and if the book ever fell into their hands, they could use its secrets to destroy everything. Before long, Mulgrath and his minions discover that Jared has found the book and surround the house - they're unable to enter due to a protective spell put on it by Arthur decades earlier - and threaten to kill his entire family if he doesn't turn it over.
After convincing his siblings about what is going on, Jared, Simon and Mallory must try to figure out a way to reverse what has been done and get rid of the monsters before they can hurt anyone. This involves a visit to Arthur's daughter (Joan Plowright), whose stories of her father battling monsters has landed her in a rest, some semi-helpful advice from a hilarious, hungry, bird-eating troll named Hogsqueal (Seth Rogen), a griffin-driven trip to a faraway land where the hasn't-aged-a-day Arthur remains in a state of permanent enchantment and an exceptionally messy and fun final act battle between the Graces and the monsters for possession of the book.
I realize that the above may sound like standard kiddie-fantasy fodder and while it does start out along those familiar lines, it soon shifts gears and turns into something a little more quirky, smart and offbeat. For one thing, the adventure and intrigue is on a refreshing and blessedly smaller scale than the overblown likes of Harry Potter or that talking dragon nightmare. Instead of watching these kids defending entire kingdoms or worlds, it essentially boils down to three children trying to protect their home and family. The story also moves along at a snappy pace without ever getting bogged down with endless explanations of the various creatures and the rules governing them, which is especially impressive when you consider that the screenwriters have taken all five of the best-selling "Spiderwick" books co-written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black and streamlined them into one 107-minute narrative without creating the impression that important material has been left on the sidelines.
The performances are also of a higher calibre than you usually find in films of this type. Highmore, fresh from a really annoying role in August Rush, takes what could have been a failed bit of stunt casting and creates two highly distinctive characterizations for his work as Jared and Simon. In smaller human roles, Sarah Bolger (an endlessly talented young actress who, mark my words, will win Oscars one day) is fun and feisty as the sister, Mary-Louise Parker is appropriately harried in the otherwise thankless part of the disbelieving mother and whomever came up with the idea of enlisting David Strathairn to play Arthur Spiderwick deserves some kind of medal for spot-on casting. As the various creatures, Martin Short is slightly irritating as Thimbletack (then again, the character itself is meant to be kind of annoying as well), Seth Rogen gets big laughs as Hogsqueal (by just shouting "Bird!") and Nick Nolte is appropriately fearsome as Mulgrath - unlike a lot of the bad guys in kid films, this is a villain who actually sounds like he means business when making his various threats against our heroes.
Speaking of that, I was also surprised and delighted by the unusual intensity of the action on display here. You see, as someone whose childhood was peppered with such PG-rated moments as the Nazis with the melting faces from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mola Ram yanking out the still-beating hearts of his victims in Temple of Doom and the kids in E.T. being chased by men with guns, it has been my opinion that kid-oriented films these days (not the epics designed for all audiences) have become too safe and sterilized for their own good. Removing all traces of actual danger or tension may keep overly sensitive American parents from complaining but it doesn't necessarily make for good storytelling. Thankfully, The Spiderwick Chronicles cheerfully goes for an approach similar to those old Amblin epics from a couple of decades ago and it really does make all the difference.
When Mulgrath's minions first attack the house and nail Simon, he winds up with some nasty marks that show without shadow of a doubt that they're serious and it adds an extra layer of tension to the proceedings early on. As for the finale, in which the monsters begin to lay siege to the house while the Graces fight them off with everything in their power, the combination of high humour, genuine excitement and splattery special effects results in a sequence that plays like a blissfully bizarre blend of two of the more infamous home invasions of screen history - the final reel of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs and the part in Gremlins when the titular creatures discover that they've picked the wrong kitchen to attack. God, I miss Gremlins!
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a modest and reasonably charming example of a genre (and a tendency) that isn't exactly renowned for modesty or charm. Instead of trying to pound audiences into submission with overly detailed backstories or elaborate visual effects, it lures them in with a nicely told story that gets the job done with a minimum of mess or fuss and actually comes to a conclusion instead of leaving us with a cliffhanger ending that may or may not ever be completed at some point down the line à la Spider-Man. Which is ironic because, unlike a lot of these would-be franchise films, this is one saga that, based on its initial entry, I actually wouldn't mind seen a continuation of in a couple of years. Meanwhile, Harry Potter is on its sixth round.
A good fantasy/magical movie, I thought that Freddie did an awesome job, especially when he played both brothers in the movie! Of course I totally cried at the end, lol.
''You don't see us, now you do, but only if we want you to.''
Upon moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory, find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures.
Freddie Highmore: Jared Grace / Simon Grace
The Spiderwick Chronicles is on the surface, an alluringly delightful fantasy that blends the very best of character designs, both human and animated, into a story that is fused together without stumbling out of the realm of suspended disbelief. The story is simple but in no way dull. A family of 4 (mother, adolescent girl, pre-teen twin boys) moves from New York to a quiet, Gothic, old country house the mother inherits. In the prologue, we have already seen how 80 years ago, Authur Spiderwick, the original owner of the house, met with a mysterious fate as a result of his studies that tantamount to an addiction. The result of the study, the Spiderwick Field Guide to things mysterious, fascinating and dangerous, is now discovered by the family, the more assertive and rebellious of the twin boys, to be exact. What follows is the familiar conflict between good and evil.
Everything within the story makes sense as it unfolds, and we don't question why certain things are feasible. The world of goblins and boggers is defined, we have no reason not to become completely immersed in the fantasy. Director Mark Waters doesn't rush the process of illustrating the multitude of magic and myths, and doesn't overload us with jargon that we couldn't possibly comprehend. The pacing is fantastic for a family film. Mark Waters has successfully fleshed out all creatures even the boggarts' emotional traits and temperaments that are common to Simon's, very much in line with the book series. Book fans of the Spiderwick Chronicles will especially be delighted to see one of my fave fantasy artists, Arthur Rackham whos book illustrations of Thimbletack, the faerie creatures, Mulgarath the ogre and his ferociously evil goblins, and even the griffin and Hogsqueal, come alive on the screen.
The main substances are present, cleverly crafted to keep everything dancing and integrated in momentum and perspective for the film version. The voices of all the characters are well articulated, succeeding in generating audience appeal and interactions throughout, and the scenes are at well-defined pacing to keep the audience's adrenalin flowing. Watch out for the very brief live-cameo take of Nick Nolte who provides the voice of Mulgarath.
Spiderwick was ultimately a very lovely film that even had imagination right up until the credits, mixing energetic music and breath taking creatures from the film that you just witnessed. Worth seeing, with the family and one even Adults who are a big kid at heart can appreciate.
Eighty years ago, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn, The Bourne Ultimatum) was a naturalist who studied the fairy folk, including sprites, brownies, and goblins. He has compiled everything he has learned into a field guide, but something happened to him. The movie starts eighty years later, as his latest generation of relatives moves into his secluded home, including Mom (Mary-Louise Parker, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and her three kids, Jared, Simon (both Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland), and Mallory (Sarah Bolger, Stormbreaker). All three of the kids have been affected by Mom's recent divorce. Mallory decides she must take on extra responsibility, Simon becomes more withdrawn and pacifist, and Jared takes it the worst of all and becomes silent and angry. When small things begin disappearing around the house, Jared gets blamed, but he soon discovers a plastered-up dumbwaiter with the missing items. Jared follows the dumbwaiter to a hidden room and discovers Arthur Spiderwick's field guide. Being the curious sort, he decides to read it. By breaking the seal on the book he awakens the ogre Mulgarath who has dark designs for the book. Now Jared must convince his siblings that they are in danger so they can protect the book. The best thing about The Spiderwick Chronicles is the world the film creates. Although we don't get a complicated backstory or much info about what's in the field guide, there's always the sense of a complete backstory behind everything. Moreover, the world is familiar, but there are new touches, like Thimbletack the house brownie's love for honey, that give the film's universe a nice shine. Likewise, the characters of the children are familiar but distinct. Spiderwick brings all those old fairy tale standbys into a new, deliciously original story. Waters is after a mischievous tone with his picture, and though it sticks to a safe PG rating, the film is reminiscent of Joe Dante?s classic, chaotic 1984 film, "Gremlins." As the siblings fight the goblins with tomato sauce bombs and lines of salt, plenty of green goo is spilled and comical violence is displayed, perhaps a step more concentrated than parents of younger children might be expecting, but it?s never mean-spirited. Waters is bringing enough threat in to establish consequences, not establish future nightmares. Spiderwick is executed with enough merriment and miniature awe to alleviate any moments of intensity.
In recent years, fantasy has become the new horror. Watching a horror film from the 80's, you can have a checklist as you follow along... false scares, jump scares, long hallways, people wandering from the group, teenage sex, etc. Now, in the age of your Harry Potter's, Chronicles of Narnia's, and The Golden Compass', we're seeing almost identical elements put into each story. From the troubled boy with divorced/soon-to-be-divorced parents right down to the ogres... it's certainly a reliable formula. Well, in most cases. While "The Spiderwick Chronicles" was a complete flop at the box office, I still do think it's standard lighthearted fantasy that will keep a young audience entertained.
The film starts off with Helen Grace (Mary Louise Parker) taking her twin sons and daughter to a mansion she had inherited from her aunt. Gee, do you think there's some sort of secret to the house? Well, of course there is. Soon, Jared (Freddy Highmore) finds the "Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You" that clues him in on the creatures that lurk around and inside the house. And not only that, it seemingly awakes an onslaught of nasty ogres and goblins, led by the evil Mulgrath (Nick Nolte). Jared's twin, Simon (also played by Freddy Highmore), is captured by goblins until his eventual rescue by Jared and his hobgoblin friend Hornsqueel (Seth Rogen). Now, the twins and their sister (Sarah Bolger) try and protect the book from the hands of Mulgrath in his quest to... well, I don't know, conquer the world - or something.
As you can see, the film isn't exactly clear at all points. This is probably due to the fact that the film contains a 5 book series all comprised into one 95-minute movie. We never get to know much about the world or the creatures that inhabit them, and the characters are never anything more than "the dorky one" and "the uptight chick with the sword". A lot of elements seem out of place, such as the divorce between the parents, which was yet another part of the movie that didn't have enough time to develop. Although, it did lead to one of the most shockingly disturbing moments in a "kid's" film i've ever seen. Honestly, who OK'ed that?
I have no idea why this movie is rated PG. Based solely on the scene I just referred to, this should atleast be PG-13. Not only that, you have burning goblin flesh and some pretty horrific creatures. While the goblins look like they stepped out of an animated film to an older audience, I could imagine some of the characters in this film giving many children nightmares. It's really baffling that this made out with a PG rating.
The acting in the film is all passable to bad. Freddy Highmore, who plays two characters, is average at best even when you look at it from the standards of a child actor. In some scene's he's fine, but in othe's he almost seems nervous. Not quite sure why I got this impression as he's done a whole bunch of these fantasy films, but something about his performance disconnected me from the story. Nick Nolte is a good dastardly villain, although he's caked with make-up and only has a brief cameo in "human" form. Mary-Louise Parker is perhaps the only real sympathetic character in the story - but we're still not completely involved with her struggles as she's portrayed as nothing more than the stupid mom who never believes anything.
While "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is entertaining, and surely a whole lot more polished and captivating than "The Golden Compass", it never feels like a fully realized vision. It's world isn't set apart from any other fantasy film... we never feel like we're at the Spiderwick Mansion, all we do is think "didn't Harry Potter have a griffin or something, too?" Perhaps a longer film would've done the story justice, but as a whole this is a very solid, yet completely flat effort.
This is no Harry Potter, and probably not even on the same level as The Chronicles of Narnia - but as a simple standalone fantasy film, it's inoffensive. It's not something i'd necessarily recommend, but I wouldn't completely turn you away if you had 90 minutes to spare.
I love, love, love a good fantasy movie. I never read the books but I think now I will. The story was really cute, and I absolutely adore Freddie Highmore. This was super fast paced and I truly enjoyed this. My daughter told me they ae more books so I hope they'll make more movies too. Awesome...
This is a run of the mill family film about a fairy world just beneath our noses. I'm not sure I'd want to pay full price to see this in a movie theater but at home on DVD, yeah, it's fine.
I thought this was surprisingly good. The plot points were more thought out than "The Seeker", and kept things more logical and better flowing than "The Golden Compass". Freddie Highmore and company are decent enough in this movie, but the story is what sells it.
I like fantasy if it is well done. This movie is well done, and not only cute but exciting, and all engrossing. The graphics and scenery are incrediable, and the acting is quite good. The concept is Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Chronicles of Narnia, but not too blantanly obvious. The book is the object of obsession, not a ring, and the characters, the goblins, the gaurdians are enjoyable....great movie fiull of excitement, and fun for the whole family.
I've never read the books, so I'm not comparing this movie to anything and I had no idea what to expect when I watched it.
The story has pretty much been done before, nothing new there. And the acting was sub-par, I really expected more out of Freddie Highmore.
But this was still a fun watch. It was pretty intense at parts, but the CGI kept it from being too scary. The goblins were almost funny looking instead of creepy.
Kids will love this movie, although some scenes may be a little too intense for kids too young.
Overall, it was an ok way to spend 1 1/2 hrs, but don't rush to see it.
a movie to see with your kids unless they are to young, fantasy that gets you thinking, at least for me, i haven't read the book but i bet the book really got your imagination to go wild,
Kids will love it. It is true to the Nickelodeon Generation. The CGI is awesome and the voices properly casted with talents like Martin Short and Seth Rogan you can't go wrong. Freddie Highmore is outstanding in this dual role. Following in the footsteps of such actors like; Patty Duke and Lindsey Lohan. Making both characters believable and independent.
The story does get lost and becomes, well to kiddie along the way, but the action will keep you till the end.
Moral of the story is everything is possible.
Enjoy it on a cold winters day.
Now pass the popcorn!!!
Mark Waters' adaptation of the acclaimed young adult books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black is a surprisingly absorbing, enjoyable, and perfectly-tailored family entertainment for this decade. The plot: the Grace family moves from New York City to their great-aunt's (Joan Plowright) creepy old estate in the middle of nowhere, and must make a fresh start. The mother (Mary-Louise Parker) is trying to move on from her no account husband (Andrew McCarthy), who appears to be more interested in the new girl he's just moved in with than in his own family. The former Mrs. Grace must then take care of her three young teens all by herself. Freddie Highmore gives a terrific performance in a dual role as twin brothers Jared and Simon. Jared is the kind of kid who is lashing out, angry all the time, and who consequentially gets blamed for anything that goes wrong. His brother, Simon, is a bookworm, knows a little something about seemingly everything, and is a self-described "pacifist." How nice then that their fencing champion older sister Mallory (the lovely Sarah Bolger) is there to pick up the slack. The film doesn't take too long before strange things begin occurring - some objects appear to move on their own, while others disappear without a trace, only to reappear in a secret dumbwaiter hidden behind the wall (Simon's the sort of kid who knows what such a device is called). The trio of young siblings soon discovers a book written by their grandfather (the reliable David Strathairn), who disappeared shortly after its completion some 80 years ago. Turns out, the book is a passage-way of sorts to seeing a hidden world of fairies, goblins and ogres, and with the help of a kind little creature named Thimbletack (the voice of Martin Short), and a somewhat undependable sloth named Hogsqueal (the voice of Seth Rogen), the kids must keep the book out of the hands of the evil Mulgarath (Nick Nolte). Some moments will probably scare the bejesus out of kids who are younger than 8 or 9 years old, but that's up to them to decide; indeed, when Mulgarath takes his true shape, he looks something like a cross between King Kong and what you might expect an ogre played by Nick Nolte to look like. It's by sheer serendipity that I should watch this right after re-watching Spike Jonze's "Adaptation." (2002) again. Like Nicolas Cage in that film, if not precisely on the same level, Highmore here creates two distinct individual characters without a single trick of hair or makeup, or even much in the way of costuming - he's terrific. I also greatly enjoyed Sarah Bolger ("In America") as the tough, smart sister who gets caught up in her brothers' pursuits. The adults are all fine, with Joan Plowright managing to never talk down to the material, and Mary-Louise Parker even earning points in the rather thankless role of the disbelieving mother who means well but is clueless. It's worth noting that one of the co-screenwriters of the film is the great John Sayles, an independent filmmaker ("Lone Star," "City of Hope") with an eye for family-friendly magical realism ("The Secret of Roan Inish"). Without having read the books or knowing what part he played in the adaptation of them, I think I can safely attribute a good chunk of this film's intelligence and heart to him. As well, the committed A-list cast, the slick, fantastical direction by Mark Waters ("The House of Yes," "Freaky Friday"), some solid cinematography by Caleb Deschanel, and effective music by James Horner, combine to lift what could've been a low-rent modern-day "Lord of the Rings" knockoff out of the gutter and into the upper echelons of family entertainment.
I haven't read the book yet, so I wouldn't know if the movie did it justice. However the effects were great and the artwork of the creatures were wonderful.
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