The Film:

Regardless of how faithful The Spiderwick Chronicles movie is to the original stories by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, the film is tremendously entertaining and thankfully resolute. Unlike the recent flock of fantasy epics including The Golden Compass and The Seeker, which conclude feeling wholly unsatisfactory due to an abrupt resolution that suggests further films in the series, The Spiderwick Chronicles easily stands alone as a complete story. With sensationally mirthful creature designs and likeable human characters, topped with state-of-the-art special effects, The Spiderwick Chronicles is another big win for Paramount and a high bar for family films of 2008.

The moment the Grace family moves into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate, strange things begin to happen. Jared (Freddie Highmore) is a curious, adventurous boy who quickly seeks out the hidden cob-web-covered remains of great great uncle Arthur Spiderwick’s laboratory. He unleashes a mysterious force when he locates a field guide full of the secrets of the magical creatures that inhabit the forest surrounding the mansion. His twin brother Simon is calm and reserved and very much the intellectual one, but is rapidly drawn into the fantastical world of faeries and goblins. Older sister Mallory and their mom are harder to convince, but after the almighty and ruthless ogre leader Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) begins to attack the home, everyone must band together to combat the hordes of goblins and ensorcelled creatures that lurk outside.

8/10

Read the rest of The Massie Twins theatrical review HERE!

Special Features:

“Spiderwick: It’s All True” is a seven minute featurette in which director Mark Waters introduces the audience to the many fantastical characters in the film, and also details what we’ll be needing to enjoy the film – including honey, tomato sauce, salt, and a seeing stone. Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide is special high definition presentation of many artists’ depictions of the monstrous or friendly creatures that inhabit his world. This feature allows the viewer to choose which creations to explore, ranging from Boggarts to Brownies to Trolls. The Field Guide also appears as a pop-up track that can be viewed during the movie if you’d like to learn more about a creature half-way through.

“Spiderwick: Meet the Clan” is a mini feature that has the human cast praise one another and discuss their characters. “Making Spiderwick” is exactly that – a 20 minute making-of documentary that details nearly every major aspect of shooting the film. Although some of the special effects are covered, the following feature, “The Magic of Spiderwick!” goes further in depth with post production special effects, and directing the animators that brought the various CG characters to life. “A Final Word of Advice…” is a one minute last thought from director Mark Waters. Four deleted scenes, several Nickelodeon television spots and two theatrical trailers round out the special features.

7/10

- Mike Massie