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'The Spiderwick Chronicles [2008]' starring Seth Rogen and directed by Mark Waters. (StaEAN 5014437953537)

A very good adaptation of the popular series of books by Tony DiTerllizi and Holly Black, The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the few family films in recent years to seamlessly integrate magical elements with a potent drama that will strike a chord with many kids.

An exceptionally talented Freddie Highmore (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory) plays twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, caught up in their parents' divorce and coping with a decision by their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) to uproot the boys and their sister, Mallory (Sarah Bolger) from New York City to a small town. There, the broken family moves into a spooky old mansion passed on to them by the kids' great-aunt, Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is spending her twilight years in managed care and whose scientist father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), disappeared some 80 years ago. Jared, angry, defiant, and determined to live with the father who seems to have abandoned him, investigates strange happenings and discovers Arthur's secret notations on fairies, ogres, and other mythical creatures that live both in and outside the house. Having no idea where his curiosity is leading, Jared soon finds that he and his family are under siege from goblins and a powerful ogre (Nick Nolte) who wants Arthur's notebook. Suddenly, the boy who is a lightning rod for a troubled family becomes a resourceful warrior intent on saving his loved ones from powerful forces.

The Spiderwick Chronicles benefits enormously from a script (partially written by John Sayles) that treats, quite seriously, the emotional pain of its human characters and makes Jared's will to survive the very real engine of an otherwise fantastic story. It helps, too, that director Mark Waters, who brings a warm and knowing touch to outlandish material (Freaky Friday), has a way of making the spectacular elements of The Spiderwick Chronicles genuine enough to stir real excitement and suspense. This is one of the better film adaptations of best-selling fiction for kids in some years. --Tom Keogh

Be warned this film is hardly anything like the Spiderwick Chronicles books.My son and I have read all the Spiderwick Chronicles and we found this screen adaptation very disappointing. Where's the dwarves, elves, dragons , the palace of trash and the incident at the school where Jared first meets Mulgarath ? It seems to me that they tried to make the film as cheap as possible using mostly cgi, hence no dwarves and elves and tried to save money by using ,mainly one set (the house and the estate it's on). We also found the relationships of the characters had been changed. Why? There was nothing wrong with the supportive relationship between Jared, Simon and Mallory that they have in the books which you only see later on in the film.
The film could easily have been another half an hour and without completely re-writing the storyline of the books.

Had some time to kill and went to see this film. Given the overhype of the Narnia films and several other book adaptations I was surprised and delighted to find out it was great entertainment and well worth the ticket price.

Freddie Highmore does a superb job playing identical twins Jared and Simon, identical by looks but not by attitude and mannerisms, who have moved to a rural house once owned by their great uncle. Jared, who is always getting into trouble, finds a large and mysterious book about the magical realm all around the house written by his great uncle many years before.

The plot may be a little scary for younger children but it's fast paced and very watchable.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I took my 5yr old and my 3yr old to watch this at the I max cinema in Bradford. well it wasn't what i expected but very enjoyable, the little boy who stars in it was very good at playing twins, he has come along way sinse that tripe: "arthur and the invisibles" in which i felt his acting as well as the rushed plot and skipping of scene to scene didn't do the film any justice, if that could be done at all.
However in this film i felt he more than made up for it and this was an enjoyable, obviously predictable as are most family fims, and exciting film to watch.
However i can't end the review, (yes it's not an in-depth review- more of an opinion) without mention of that one liner at the end where the girls farther who has been literally away with the fairies comes back to see her, she's now an old women herself of course, and wants him to stay to which he preplies: "I cannot, (que the cheese) for if i do, all my years will come at once and i will wither away" at this point i almost fell off my chair in laughter as did the other adult i was with, maybe we are just really childish but i just thought it was so corny and hilarious! it kinda spoilt the film but at lease it made us laugh.
Needless to say it was totally uneccessary for him to say that, even the kids knew the answer to that, so why would the old women, (his daughter) not know that? then in the end he decides to take her back with him to the land of the fairies where they will dwell for all eternity in a garden of flowers with no food or stimulation, forbidden to leave by the fairies. right.sounds like heaven.... oh and she turns into a kid again, how frustrating would that be?

ah well, all in all i give it 4 stars, worth getting for the kids, good special effects, just don't take it too seriously, a much better film to get by the same directors, (i think) would be Bridge to terabithia, now that is well worth watching if you like these kinds of films, it has it's flaws but i would say is better than this one.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of those films that ticks all the right boxes for a traditional family adventure movie. It tells the story of a family who relocate to a spooky mansion in the middle of nowhere (as you do), then start experiencing very strange goings on both within the house and outside it. Things start to go weird when one of the sons finds an old book written by their great Uncle, who mysteriously disappeared many years ago, and is the former owner of the mansion. The book documents the existence of fairies, goblins, ogres and many other mythical creatures, explaining that they are completely invisible to humans and only make themselves visible when they want to. But as soon as this book is found, suddenly these mythical creatures start waging a mini-war against the family, desperately trying to steal the book from them. Fortunately not all the creatures are malevolent and one, a little goblin type creature called Thimbletack the Brownie, helps them in their quest to stop the book falling into evil hands.

The story is very simple and leaves you in no doubt as to who are the bad guys and who are the good guys, there's no shades of grey. The fact that this good vs. evil battle is not on a grand scale and is instead confined just to the family house and the surrounding area gives a more earthly and believable feel to it. As the family try and think of ways to outwit the creatures, they discover more and more about this magical world they have discovered. Just as significantly, they also start to piece together the strange circumstances surrounding their Uncle's disappearance, and start to make sense of this whole bizarre situation.

The special effects are excellent with all the weird and wonderful creatures superbly rendered in CGI. The effects, however, are never over the top and intrusive, letting the storyline take the lead. As well as the genuine sense of wonder that this film creates, there's also an engaging subplot involving the family's own inner turmoil resulting from the Father's separation from the Mother. Ironically, the discovery of this mythical world unites the family and helps them confront and overcome their own emotional problems. So all in all, this film is a very well made family adventure that has something to offer both kids and adults.

This is a family movie, it is basicly a fairytale. If that put you off avoid the movie you probably won't enjoy it. The performances are all solid particularly that of Freddie Highmore, at least I think it was him I didn't check before writing this review. The effects are all solid if sometimes unspectacular.
The set up is simple, family move to a new home and find out there is some dark mystery yadda yadda yadda. Much like many horror movies in fact but there isn't much here to scare kids too much, just enough to make it effective. The film stands alone very well so there is no need for a sequel but also there could very well be a follow on story.