Review of The Spiderwick Chronicles

As if Freddie Highmore (whose ubiquity is possibly only surpassed by Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin) hasn’t been getting enough roles recently, he plays two different characters in The Spiderwick Chronicles: Jared and Simon Grace. Simon is passive and bookish, while Jared, we learn early on, has a history of “anger problems,” violence, and causing problems for his family. Despite having a sometimes-distractingly practiced American accent, Highmore is able to establish his characters as distinctly different people with full personalities who don’t seem one-dimensional or trite.

Given Jared’s tumultuous past behavior, his family blames him for the strange things that happen when his mother moves him, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory into an abandoned house that used to belong to a great-aunt. Jared soon discovers that his great-great-uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) had discovered an entire world of mythical creatures and compiled a book chronicling his studies. One such mythical creature is an annoying Brownie named Thimbletack (voiced by Martin Short) who turns into a raging green Bogart when he is upset. It turns out that Thimbletack is responsible for the mischief going on in Jared’s new home and also for guarding the book by Arthur Spiderwick. If the book goes outside a protective sphere surrounding the house, goblins will try to steal it and use its information to gain power over all creatures, including humans. So begins a battle between Jared’s family and the goblins for possession of the book. Conveniently, Mallory (Sarah Bolger) is a fencing expert and is able to fight off several goblins with an old sword she finds in the house.

In an era of book-inspired adventure movies involving mythical creatures and children, The Spiderwick Chronicles isn’t exactly something new. And sequels may well be on the way given that there are now five novels in the franchise. Even Freddie Highmore’s talent doesn’t make the film stand out since two years ago he was in another fantastical movie involving family bonds and fairies (Arthur and the Invisibles). However, what this movie lacks in cinematic originality doesn’t take away from its appeal to children, its target audience. If anything, The Spiderwick Chronicles may be more suited to younger viewers than its numerous comparable predecessors. The storyline is not bland, but is certainly more accessible than that of The Golden Compass (or, assumably, future installments of The Chronicles of Narnia). The plot does not fail to provide closure, as was the case in the only chapter of A Series of Unfortunate Events (based on similarly illustrated novels about three other clever siblings). The pacing is more steady and the action more continuous than most films of any type which have been adapted from a book. The Spiderwick Chronicles is entertaining and thorough – perhaps a light version of a Harry Potter excerpt.

Backing the magical plotline is a more relatable conflict regarding Jared’s reaction to his parents’ separation. While CGI monsters bleed green ooze and Nick Nolte represents a goblin king in weakened form, there is still room for emotional development between the human characters. The Spiderwick Chronicles is able to create a modern fairytale woven with elements of real-life believability, thus making it a solid film and a worthwhile addition to its genre.