Review of The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) by Tatsuhito K — 13 Sep 2016

Talk about a lukewarm fantasy film. That's not a derogatory as it may have come across, since I ended up thinking that this was a solid little movie. What I mean by that is the fact that in a lot of these films, you end up being taken on this epic adventure to a faraway and fantastical land that's unlike anything you would ever see on earth.

This movie is nothing like that. It takes place in the 'real' world and the only thing fantasy about it are these mythological creatures that surround the characters who are only seen if they want to be seen or if a hobgoblin spits in your face, which gives you the ability to see them without a special stone that you can see through.

So that's what I meant when I meant it was more lukewarm. The locations are pretty straightforward and simple and, to me, honestly, that's one of the things that does hold this film back. The fact that the locations are so mundane particularly when compared to other films in this same genre.

Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter or even Percy Jackson. There's one scene where a griffin takes the kids to this place that's more fantastical where the author of the field guide has been kept for over 80 years.

But it's just the one scene and it doesn't really even go for that long. It is what it is and I'm sure that the film is somewhat faithful to the book, but the locations of the film really don't do much to inspire a sense of wonderment usually attached to these types of films.

But that's really about my only major complaint as I found the film, its pacing and its acting all fairly solid. Freddy Highmore is a really damn good actor, so he does a good job at carrying this film.

Thematically speaking, the film isn't exactly the best. The problem with the narrative is the fact that the ogre wants to destroy the field guide that Arthur Spiderwick wrote for some reason whatsoever.

Like they never really elaborate on why the ogre wants to destroy the field guy or why it's so important. Perhaps the idea is that with the guide destroyed then they could do whatever they want whenever they wanted, without having to worry about barriers being placed around houses so that they get past them.

I don't fucking know, the movie does a shit job at explaining why the field guide is so damn important. They literally had one job and they failed at that. So, yea, that was stupid. Everything else was all solid.

Nothing to write home about, of course, but it was all perfectly enjoyable. Again, one of the film's strongest points is the fact that the pacing is excellent. No scene goes too long, but, of course, that means that there's also not much room for in-depth character development, which I guess is fine in a movie like this, where it's more about the fantastical aspects of the story.

That's about it. While it falls short of other films in the same genre, this movie still offers an inoffensive and solid experience. Not like you should go out of your way to see this, but if you got a couple of hours to kill, then this won't drive you nuts.

It's on Amazon Prime too, so that's even better.