The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

In the XXIth, it's no more a surprise to see a exploded family : this one is without a father and i suppose i should go along. Then, we go into a country manor lost in the woods and that is rather unexpected. This old house is rather well done as it reminds me of my parents' one due to its antic furniture's ! Next, the supernatural comes in and for a time, it's rather interesting : we have got a sort of a tiny mouse turning green and bad like the Hulk and above all rural, forest entities (ogre, goblin) ! It's a bit like we have Tolkien's fantasy coming into our actual modern love but then it's the point when the movie turns really bad ! First, i know that those creatures are evil but it's hard to see teens acting like soldiers and one more time killing the bad guys ! Maybe i'm wrong but in my childhood, teens were more intelligent and peaceful when confronted and never used killing as a way to escape ! Next, we goes into a sort of faerie land to know about the fate of the ancestor : having this character back in the movie is really bad as we have a granny crying for her much younger father ! One more time, we have a single parent family and more time the child is tied in Oedipus stage as this only parents mean so much ! At last, we have the big finale which is the usual big fight, big violent moment and the movie falls down even lower with the scene of the boy stabbing his « father » ! It's like the remake of Snow White in which she stabbed the Evil Queen ! I found this scene totally inappropriate and really damaging for children education ! With the crazy world we live actually, i don't think it's sane to entertain our children with movies that praises violence, that depict themselves spilling blood and killing parental images ! So, at the end, this movie really stenches as we are left only with brave little soldiers, happy to kill the bad ones and living alone blissfully with one single parent !

The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008): Dir: Mark Waters / Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, David Strathairn, Andrew McCarhty: This is one of the most idiotic big budget movies since Wild Wild West. The plot has all the excitement of burnt toast. A family moves into a big house where a magical book is discovered by a boy, played by Freddie Highmore. It was written by his great uncle and can unleash evil creatures. That sounds like a great thing to leave for one's family. Why not just leave them a very large check and save them the headache. Director Mark Waters does his best but he really should go back to what worked for him. Mean Girls worked as one of the best of teen flicks that its target audience can relate to. With Spiderwick Chronicles he revisits the stupidity of Head Over Heels and that is a major scale backwards. This film has a whole family of morons. When told not to take the book outside the house, Highmore does so not once, but twice. That's a prime example of a kid who uses no common sense. Mary Louise Parker has the thankless role of mother-who-doesn't-listen-to-kids-and-yells-a-lot role. Sarah Bolger is given the embarrassing role of sword fighter sister. Finally there is David Strathairn as the senile uncle who comes off as if he walked onto the wrong film set. Despite fine visual elements, this film should be destroyed alongside the book. Score: 2 / 10

I have to admit that when I sat down to watch this movie, I knew pretty much nothing about it, not even that it was based on a series of books. All I knew was that it was a family movie, so this adult was prepared for the worst. To my surprise, I found myself pretty entertained throughout. One reason was that the characters, as flawed as they are (there IS a lot of yelling and arguing by them, as some other posters have pointed out), are much smarter than characters in many other family movies. They do make some mistakes, but their mistakes are believable and even understandable. Another positive attribute is that the story moves very swiftly (though wisely not TOO swift) and that there are no lulls. There's a lot of action and excitement, but there are also some thoughtful moments here and there. And the special effects, while often obvious CGI creations, are all the same fun to watch. This adult was certainly entertained, so I think a lot of kids would be entertained as well. Though I feel I should mention that there are a few dark and scary moments that might freak out some more sensitive youngsters aged eight or under, so be aware.

Benefiting from Deschanel's superb cinematography, this fantasy adventure has moments of elegant finesse that make it unusual in terms of modern (often brutal) cinema. The gentler "faerie" sequences and closing credits were like a lullaby for the eyes. Helped considerably by Horner's enchanting score.A well-constructed screenplay keeps the action flowing, while there's enough common-sense in the script to establish the main characters. There's even humorous asides, but these were too few to lift my spirits, as Jared and other family members deal with the emotional destruction of divorce.The writing takes a different approach to JK Rowling's since, here, Jared has to assume the role of a missing father, while Harry Potter is tasked with rebuilding a sense of family from scratch. Although, divorce as a topic is well-worth exploring, since it haunts modern society. JK Rowling tends to ignore that difficult issue entirely.Parallels with Harry Potter are unavoidable. Spiderwick's "Griffin" sequences were far too reminiscent of those seen at Hogworts. Nil points for originality there. Paramount obviously decided to compete with Warner Brothers for a highly lucrative "fantasy film" audience. Hijacking an idea wholesale didn't impress.Goblin sequences relied too heavily on CGI, although Thimbletack limited the damage by being a new CGI "take" on the "house-elf". Plowright (as Lucinda) and Highmore (in a dual-role) acted their socks off, not helped much by mediocre support. I can imagine Emma Watson or Natalia Tena, for example, making much more of swashbuckling "Mallory". Some poignant moments - due in most part to a thoughtful script and Highmore's considerable acting abilities. Keep the tissues handy.