A Hodge Podge of Hobgoblins and Fairies (The Spiderwick Chronicles (DVD))

Member Name: krazykat2005

Product:	The Spiderwick Chronicles (DVD)
Date:	21/09/08 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting story

Disadvantages: Didn't feel quite right in places, overuse of CGI

I had seen the Spiderwick Chronicles books in the children's section at my local bookshop, and to be honest, although I have read a fair few "childrens" fantasy books and found them to be very entertaining and just as good as adult literature, these had not appealed to me at all.

My only exposure to the film was the toys that came with Happy Meals upon the cinematic release and I remember thinking that the characters looked interesting, a little darker and less chocolate box than the usual fairy story creature.

We rented this film rather than bought and though it was enjoyable, I think it was the right thing to do, I wouldn't spend the twelve or so pounds on a film that I think I would only watch once.

As the film unfolded it turned out to be a fairly standard story, parents seperate, the family moves to a creepy old house with a history, the angry child acts out and gets them into a situation, now they must save the day and protect the grownup. Generally these come with a happy ending and Spiderwick Chronicles doesn't disappoint.

Great Uncle Spiderwick writes a guide to all the magical creatures, which it seems live quietly alongside us unseen unless you have the key to unlocking their secrets. Unfortunately the guide makes a pretty good key, as does anyone who has read it, and the bad guy an Ogre named Mulgarath, wants this knowledge and doesn't care who he kills to get it.

Spiderwick disappears, his daughter gets locked up because children who believe in fairies are obviously nuts, and eighty years later in moves Mum plus three, twins Jared and Simon, and their big sister Mallory, who is conveniently a fencing champion.

Jared discovers the guide and strange things begin to happen, eventually the whole family gets drawn in and there as an adventure with goblins, hobgoblins (which not unlike camels have a nasty spit), griffins, brownies, fairies and of course shape shifting ogres.

This is certainly not suitable for sensitive younger children as some of the creatures are really quite scary, which is a testament to the work that went into their creation, even my heart was pounding at some points.

It was probably a hard film to rate as PG is perhaps not quite high enough, but a 12A a bit too severe. This is one I would definitely advise parents to watch first to check it's suitability for their own children. I would not let my three year old watch it even supervised as it would give him nightmares.

The film flowed reasonably well, fast enough that things didn't get boring, but simple enough that you understood at most times what was going on. There were a few moments where I questioned why on earth a character would do what they did.

The bad guy is scary enough, his henchmen are pretty disgusting and a pirate goblin was a sight to see. I loved the brownie Thimbletack, who talked in rhyme, but all in all you don't really become immersed in this other world, you feel like you've only had a few glimpses of what might be something massive and rich. I think perhaps fans of the books might not have thought the film as good in this case, it certainly doesn't compete with Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.

It was definitely heavily reliant on special effect and sometimes that can detract from the acting and story. Freddy Highmore, who plays both twin boys, did a brilliant job and I was quite surprised to find he had acted both parts because I had assumed it was actually two different people playing two different characters. Great acting for one so young.

I found the ending a bit too perfect. Everyone likes a happy ending, but I found myself wondering that if the ravages of time couldn't be stopped one way, how could it be reversed the other. I don't like when I see something that it totally unbelievable even in my fantasy films. I think to keep with the darkness this story has a different ending would have been better, although not the typical ending it would have gone well with the less typical depiction of a fantasy world.

It made for an interesting watch, and it was nice to see it with fresh eyes having not read the books first, but I think it was definitely mediocre when compared to some of the other book to film fantasies available these days.

Summary: Rent it, don't buy it and keep the little kids out the room