The Spiderwick Chronicles

Went to a UK preview tonight and this completely took me by surprise. A brilliant fantasy adventure which retains it's dignity and doesn't sell out for a cute Disney style box office attack.

The issues in it were quite good and realistic and it wasn't necessarily 'happy ever after' in the end. The scripting and the style of the piece reminded me of 'The Princess Bride'- although this is more of an action adventure than a comedy.

Well worth seeing, and there doesn't seem to have been much 'hollywood tailoring' such as there was with the Golden compass and Narnia...

As to the monsters / fairies- they were very well done indeed, quite believable considering they were computer generated.

Well worth seeing, but I have the feeling it won't get as much publicity as the usual run of the mill children's movie...

Why do I keep saying children's movie when I am 34?

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.

I've made up a theory: People who have read books that are turned into movies will be more harsh to judge the films unlike people who see movies without reading the book. I think this theory is right. I was disappointed by Harry Potter 5 at first, but watching it now for a year later and nearly forgetting about the book, I found it the best in the series.

The same might as well go with this film. I was disappointed. If you don't know, this film is based on 5 books. However, the movie ignores the 4th book, which is probably because of budget issues and/or limited running time. Still, I can't help but complain. There could've been more creative production designs to see, more action, and more magical creatures.

Apart from that, I felt that the film was well put together, especially the fact that they skipped a lot in the books. The special effects are very good, as well as the action scenes. I also may feel this film pushed the PG rating. It certainly is not as intense as Harry Potter 3 but there might be about 2 to 3 scenes that could make this film a PG-13 rating.

The performances here are decent, although not captivating. The film may be a bit fast paced, if you asked me. Overall, this is a decent adaption to another fantasy book. If you have read the books, you might be disappointed. If you have not, enjoy it.

I wish people would stop comparing this to Harry Potter, because this is a dark and hugely entertaining film, that both kids and adults will enjoy. I am not saying Harry Potter isn't entertaining, it just is a little unfair to compare movies that are completely different, with the fact they are fantasy being their connection. The film itself looks just stunning, with beautiful sets and costumes.(the house in this film reminded me of the house in The Others) Young children will find Mulgarath a bit too sinister, especially in his ogre form, but he was essential to the plot. I think how he died, getting eaten in the form of a crow by the good goblin(can't remember his name) a bit disappointing, as I've known villains to die better than that. The script is very like Princess Bride in terms of wit and imagination, with the book and all the other basic ingredients. The story is very imaginative, with a boy finding a book and accidentally unleashing the evil goblins who want the book for themselves. What made this movie was the cast, Freddie Highmore, Mary Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright and Martin Short, all giving first rate performances. While not his best work, James Horner's score was appropriately fitting to the action. Another thing, before I round off, is that I found the ending with the father and daughter reunited really poignant, I almost cried at that bit. All in all, a beautiful and inventive movie, with a 8/10. Bethany Cox

The Spiderwick Chronicles is based upon the books of the same name by Tony DeTerlizzi and Holly Black. The film centers around a mother and her three children who move into a mysterious and creepy new house pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The one son Jared who is the main character in the film, finds a book written by the previous owner of the house and Jared soon discovers that this is a magical yet very dangerous book that a lot of goblins and little creatures are after, but with the help of his twin brother, his older sister and some friendly creatures he gets the book to safety and also protects himself and his family from the evil monsters that want the book to do harm. Ever since The Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter films have done so well, filmmakers are taking other fantasy books and turning them into feature films as well. The majority of them that have been released over the past few years I have not seen because for one thing they did not look appealing to me at all and also because of bad word of mouth and reviews. I wasn't sure what I would think of The Spiderwick Chronicles, but to my surprise I thought it was pretty good. The film is aimed at a family audience even though some young children might be afraid of some scenes, but this is a film that I think kids will absolutely love and there is enough here for the grownups as well. The story sounds simple enough, but it is enhanced by a lot of creative creatures and imaginative things going on. The young cast each did their own and carried the film and even though I don't usually like computer generated effects in films, I didn't feel it was overdone here just for the sake of showing what today's new wonderful technology can do and I really appreciated that the film didn't go overboard with that. The running time moves along fairly briskly and the film is involving and interesting from the start and keeps it's energy and charm throughout the running time. There were a few repeated story patterns and clichés in the script, but there were also a lot of surprises and new takes on things, so that can be forgiven. When looking at a film like this at a child you would like the magic, imagination and the story that is woven in front of you with interesting characters, environments and a grand sense of storytelling that can make the make believe into a fun and entertaining film. This is all captured very well here and works as a fairy tale for kids 8 to whatever age. A creative enough story helped by good film-making and an eye for what kids and adults love about these movies make this film a generally good and above average family fantasy film of the past few years.

I truly wasn't expecting much from this movie goon in but it was the only family movie available to watch with my 5 and 3 year old. I figured that because it wasn't a cartoon I'd have to deal with squirming bottoms and talking. But to my amazement the movie was not only entertaining to both of my boys (NO SQUIRMING!!!) both my husband and I loved it. My husband wouldn't even get a refill on the popcorn----and believe me that doesn't happen often!!!! I have nothing negative to say about the film. Some might think it's a little too scarry for younger kids but neither one of mine were scarred. A couple of times I had to explain some things to my 5 year old. The head goblin is kind of scarry looking; but not too bad.