Local Movie Reviews
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Reviewed By: September McConnell - Executive Director, The Whitley County Community Foundation
February 18, 2008
The Spiderwick Chronicles
stars Freddie Highmore (as look-alike twin brothers Simon and Jared
Grace), Mary-Louise Parker (Mom),
Sarah Bolger
(Mallory), Nick Nolte (the Ogre Mulgarath), Joan Plowright
(Lucinda), David Strathairn (Uncle Arthur Spiderwick), and Martin
Short (Thimbletack).
After reading another parent’s warning of
dreadful violence and gore included in this film, I almost left my
nine year-old daughter at home; and what a shame that would have
been! The
Spiderwick Chronicles is a charming,
action-packed fantasy adventure not to be missed.
The movie is one of those rare treats
that manages to keep adults engaged and children on the edge of
their seats. A talented cast is teamed with terrific special effects
that simultaneously captivate and repulse viewers. Add to the mix, a
spell-binding musical score by James Horner, and you have sheer
entertainment.
Drawn from the popular children’s books
by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, I’m told that the film stays
true to the stories from which it originated. I was pleasantly
surprised by the quick pace at which Director Mark Waters (Freaky
Friday) draws viewers into the story line and
swiftly develops a sense of mystery and adventure.
The Grace Family (mom, older sister and
twin boys) move into the creepy, abandoned home of their Great-Great
Uncle Arthur Spiderwick, an eccentric naturalist. Early clues to the
odd history of the mansion include salt on the window sills, and
stockpiles of honey and tomato sauce.
It
isn’t long before Spiderwick’s field guide to mythical creatures is
discovered and opened against warning, unleashing a veritable
Pandora’s Box of secrets and strange creatures.
While some of these beings are kind, such
as the bird-eating hobgoblin Hogsqueal, and the tiny honey-loving
elf Thimbletack, others such as the toad-like goblins and their
leader, the shape-shifting ogre Mulgarath, are downright evil. The
plot surrounds Mulgarath’s obsession with obtaining the field guide
and discovering its secrets that will give him ultimate power.
As the story unfolds, the kids become
responsible for protecting the book and defending the Spiderwick
home. I found it pleasing that the children are empowered and it is
their ingenuity and tenacity that eventually wins out.
While largely fixated upon the ogre’s
quest, an underlying sub-plot focuses on real, human issues facing
the characters. Both the elderly Lucinda, as well as the three Grace
children, struggle with a shared hard truth. Their fathers were more
interested in their own lives than those of their kids. If the film
contains a moral message, it is simply the importance of fathers in
the lives of their children.
At the movie’s end, I waited for a
response from my daughter. She quietly breathed “Oh . . . I didn’t
want it to end.” It doesn’t get much better than that!
Note: This
probably isn’t a movie for very young children who are easily
frightened, but for older kids, the goblins weren’t any more
daunting than the foes of many superheroes.