Movie Review: The Spiderwick Chronicles

Movie Review: The Spiderwick Chronicles                                                                               12-29-21

Based on the books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, The Spiderwick Chronicles is about three kids: Teenage daughter Mallory Grace (Sarah Bolger) and twin brothers Jared (Freddie Highmore) and Simon (also Freddie Highmore). They move into a house deep in the woods with their divorced mom Helen (Mary-Louise Parker), and Jared discovers a secret room that belonged to a biologist named Dr. Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn). Jared opened a book that belonged to Spiderwick and learns that he catalogued mythical creatures like fairies, ogres, goblins, and brownies (Jekyll/Hyde rodent-like creatures that like honey). The book is also sought after by the evil shapeshifting ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), who wants to steal the book for his nefarious deeds. Now, it’s up to the Grace children along with a slow-witted bird-loving hobgoblin named Hogsqueal (Seth Rogen) and a brownie named Thimbletack (Martin Short) to fight Mulgarath and his army of goblins.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a somewhat underrated fantasy film with top-notch acting (even considering the fact that Highmore is playing two characters), visual effects that have aged very well, a story that’s a nice departure from the typical fantasy film, and a good score from the late James Horner.

The mouse-like Thumbletack goes through a Jekyll/Hyde style transformation whenever he's angry, but he loves honey.

Another thing to appreciate about the movie is that Highmore is playing two characters in the same movie, even if they’re on screen together at the same time.

The three kids (and teen).

However, I do have warnings for those who plan on watching The Spiderwick Chronicles: The film is rather violent, as characters get hurt realistically, characters get killed (but luckily, no humans get killed), and there are monsters that can actually get quite scary.

In conclusion, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a really good fantasy film to watch with the family. If any of you want to watch it, it’s available on Netflix as I’m typing this.

Rating: 3.49 stars out of 5

Sorry if my review's shorter than usual. There's not much to say about this movie. I promise that my next review will be a little longer!