Reel Rating: 4 out of 5 Reels
MPAA Rating: PG for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements.
Genre: Family, Adventure, Fantasy
Runtime: 97 minutes
Directed by: Mark Waters
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, Nick Nolte, Andrew McCarthy
Sex/Nudity: None.
Violence/Gore: Goblins are stabbed, blown up and run over with a vehicle, and green blood is shown. A kid stabs an adult, who is revealed to be an ogre. Goblins chase the kids, catching and dragging them at various point and imprison them. Some bloody gashes are shown. There’s also a pretty scary scene where a giant ogre chases the family around the house.
Language: A character utters the h-word. A goblin says part of the s-word, as in “Oh, sh–.”
Which Kids Will Like It? Ages 9 and older who like fantasy tales and aren’t scared by menacing ogres and creepy houses.
Will Parents Like It? Yes, although they could have done without the swear words. I mean, really, what’s the point? Overall, though, it’s a good movie for both kids and adults.
Review: Based on the best-selling children’s books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the tale of three young siblings and the goblins, faeries, trolls, griffins, brownies, and other creatures that live in their back yard and nearby woods.
This movie is everything that Bridge to Terabithia was not. I went into that movie expecting to be taken into a fantasy world populated by fairytale creatures, and that’s just what this movie delivers.
It begins with young Jared (Freddie Highmore) moving into a creepy old mansion in the middle of nowhere with his newly divorced mom (Mary-Louise Parker), feisty sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger), and mellower twin brother Simon (also Highmore). It doesn’t help that Jared’s dad seems to have written off the family: He won’t return calls and makes promises he never keeps.
Jared immediately gets blamed for a series of pranks, including tying his sister’s long hair to her bedpost while she sleeps. He takes refuge in the house, exploring the dark passageways and ending up in a secret room where his great-uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), experimented with potions and kept a strange diary filled with lively drawings of faeries and goblins.
In fact, it’s a field guide to all the various creatures who reside on the property. Opening the book – despite a note on the cover saying ‘Do not open for any reason’ – and having it fall into the hands of shape-shifting ogre Mulgarath (voiced by Nick Nolte), puts the faeries and humans in grave danger.
Soon enough, Jared brings his siblings in on the secret, and they’re on a quest to set things right. The adventure takes them into dark tunnels, into the nearby village and to the rest home where Arthur’s now-80-year-old daughter (Joan Plowright) resides.
The kids have help from Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short), an elf-like brownie who morphs into an angry little guy when provoked (but settles back down with a dose of honey). And Hogsqueal (voiced by Seth Rogen), a friendly goblin who has a thing for tasty birds.
I love the sepia-toned colors of this movie, the CG effects that bring the creatures to life, the lilting musical score and all the playful elements—flowers that turn into beautiful faeries and pixie-dust that engulfs characters and spirits them away.
Highmore is brilliant, as always (are there no other young male actors in Hollywood?), and Bolger hits all the right notes as the feisty sister. All in all, this movie is an enchanting tale that will take you away from the cares of the real world, if only for a couple of hours.
Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at Reel Life With Jane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net.
