Children's books and stories have always offered young readers the chance to imagine freely. I'm sure if I was a kid and read "The Spiderwick Chronicles," I'd be enthralled by the story of a broken family discovering a new world, and themselves.
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" is now available on DVD and Blu-ray disc. This a review of the Blu-ray disc.
The movie version of the popular children's book (there is a series of books) is perfectly decent entertainment, but it's not epic in scale like any of the "Harry Potter" films, or as engaging and moving as "Bridge to Terabithia." There have been so many screen adaptions of children's books in recent years that after awhile, they begin to seem similar to one another. "Spiderwick" is no exception.
Young actor Freddie Highmore ("Charlie & the Chocolate Factory") is nicely cast as twin brothers, Jared and Simon Grace. Jared is a rebelleous kid, while Simon is the more quiet and passive twin. It's Jared who must deal with the separation of his parents. He's a selfish kid, but soon discovers that there is a new world around him to discover. This world contains strange creatures with names that sound like they came from the world of "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings." Using a magical glasspiece and disgusting spit from Hogsqueal (Seth Rogan), Jared soon finds himself trying to make things right in his world and the creature world.
The movie seems as though it cut some corners. I haven't read the book version, but I didn't find myself engaged in the plight of the Grace family or the creatures of the other world. There's not much of a core to the story or to the characters that grips you. I felt, while watching the movie, that there was an emphasis more on the digital creatures and the "gee-whiz" factor," rather than on a solid storyline. The story of Aunt Lucinda's (Jordy Benatter/Joan Plowright) loss of her father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), would've been more satisfying had it not felt tacked on. Young Aunt Licinda is more engaging, at least to me, than a bratty modern day kid like Jared.
The visual effects in the movie range from "seen that, done that," to some pretty nice effects like the little flower faeries. The creatures are very similar to creatures we've seen in other recent kid movies. Based on watching the credits, the film has an all-star cast and crew including editor Michael Kahn, composer James Horner and executive producers Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall. The cinematography by Caleb Deschanel is excellent, and the production design by James D. Bissell ranks up there with his other fine work ("300.") I wish, though, the film had me more engaged.
I was (or maybe I shouldn't be) surprised at the level of violence in "Spiderwick." The violence isn't tremendously bothersome to older kids or teens. But the movie is being marketed as a film that the whole family can see, and I don't think that kids who scare easily will like this movie. Many of the creatures are scary looking, and there is some violence that's heavy at times. Just a word of parental caution on "Spiderwick."
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Click Communications
Photos: © Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved.
