Fluke_Skywalker
Plot; When he and his family move into an old family estate, a young boy finds a book that opens his eyes to an unseen world of goblins and monsters. Came out at the tale end of Hollywood's "Get me the next Harry Potter!" phase (which was followed by the "Get me the next Twilight!" phase, which was followed by the "Get me the next Hunger Games!" phase, etc.). Fares better than most, w/solid direction and great performances from a young Freddie Highmore (in a duel role) and Sarah Bolger. Starts off w/a real sense of mystery, but bogs down a bit w/a wonky and undercooked mythology and a villain who isn't present enough to create true menace.
leplatypus
In the XXIth, it's no more a surprise to see a exploded family : this one is without a father and i suppose i should go along. Then, we go into a country manor lost in the woods and that is rather unexpected. This old house is rather well done as it reminds me of my parents' one due to its antic furniture's ! Next, the supernatural comes in and for a time, it's rather interesting : we have got a sort of a tiny mouse turning green and bad like the Hulk and above all rural, forest entities (ogre, goblin) ! It's a bit like we have Tolkien's fantasy coming into our actual modern love but then it's the point when the movie turns really bad ! First, i know that those creatures are evil but it's hard to see teens acting like soldiers and one more time killing the bad guys ! Maybe i'm wrong but in my childhood, teens were more intelligent and peaceful when confronted and never used killing as a way to escape ! Next, we goes into a sort of faerie land to know about the fate of the ancestor : having this character back in the movie is really bad as we have a granny crying for her much younger father ! One more time, we have a single parent family and more time the child is tied in Oedipus stage as this only parents mean so much ! At last, we have the big finale which is the usual big fight, big violent moment and the movie falls down even lower with the scene of the boy stabbing his « father » ! It's like the remake of Snow White in which she stabbed the Evil Queen ! I found this scene totally inappropriate and really damaging for children education ! With the crazy world we live actually, i don't think it's sane to entertain our children with movies that praises violence, that depict themselves spilling blood and killing parental images ! So, at the end, this movie really stenches as we are left only with brave little soldiers, happy to kill the bad ones and living alone blissfully with one single parent !
SanteeFats
An extremely well done and entertaining movie. When her husband dumps the family, mom and the three kids move back to daddy's old home. Aunt Lucinda, daddy's sister has been taken to a booby hatch because she sees fairy's so the house appears abandoned. Surprise! There is a brownie (Thimbletack) living in the house. He is there to protect a book written by Arthur Spiderwick before he disappeared many years ago. In this book Spiderwick has identified the unseen world. This book is sought by the king nasty fey Mulgarath. Nick Nolte has what is basically a cameo playing Mulgarath as an old man (he does the voice as well). He looks almost as bad here as in his mug shots. The CGI in this film is some of the best I have seen. When Thimbletack gets angry he transforms into another creature, the transformation is done seamlessly to my eye. He is brought back when given honey. The other excellent transformations are when Mulgarath shape shifts at different points in the movie. The fight scene between the sister and the unseen goblins is so well done. One of the twin brothers can see them using a special ring and calls out their positions to his sister using clock times. I can recommend this movie for the entire family it is just well done, funny, and serious.
nbwritersinbox
Benefiting from Deschanel's superb cinematography, this fantasy adventure has moments of elegant finesse that make it unusual in terms of modern (often brutal) cinema. The gentler "faerie" sequences and closing credits were like a lullaby for the eyes. Helped considerably by Horner's enchanting score.A well-constructed screenplay keeps the action flowing, while there's enough common-sense in the script to establish the main characters. There's even humorous asides, but these were too few to lift my spirits, as Jared and other family members deal with the emotional destruction of divorce.The writing takes a different approach to JK Rowling's since, here, Jared has to assume the role of a missing father, while Harry Potter is tasked with rebuilding a sense of family from scratch. Although, divorce as a topic is well-worth exploring, since it haunts modern society. JK Rowling tends to ignore that difficult issue entirely.Parallels with Harry Potter are unavoidable. Spiderwick's "Griffin" sequences were far too reminiscent of those seen at Hogworts. Nil points for originality there. Paramount obviously decided to compete with Warner Brothers for a highly lucrative "fantasy film" audience. Hijacking an idea wholesale didn't impress.Goblin sequences relied too heavily on CGI, although Thimbletack limited the damage by being a new CGI "take" on the "house-elf". Plowright (as Lucinda) and Highmore (in a dual-role) acted their socks off, not helped much by mediocre support. I can imagine Emma Watson or Natalia Tena, for example, making much more of swashbuckling "Mallory". Some poignant moments - due in most part to a thoughtful script and Highmore's considerable acting abilities. Keep the tissues handy.
AD
