Review of The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) by Paul S — 29 Apr 2010

There are "children's movies" that, while aimed at a young audience, still manage to engage and entertain an older crowd; but in this film I was constantly aware that it was written for children, to be viewed by children... almost as if I were an interloping adult who should have no business watching this, let alone reviewing it.

Certainly, with an "eyes of a child" perspective I'm sure that the film works on several levels (though might be too scary for really young ones), but as an (alleged)adult it came across, in spite of some nice moments, competent CGI and the usually marvelous performance from Joan Plowright, as a paint by numbers fantasy, where all the motivations and plot elements were mapped out in very big strokes less the kiddies miss anything.

I don't know why I felt this way about this particular film - Pan's Labyrinth and Narnia (and of course the Potter series) were all addapted from children's books, but those never gave me the feeling that I'd walked into a Chucky Cheese birthday party for 10 year olds. Regardless, this film was far better than another "childrens' film, The Gold Compass - I just wish I could put my finger on why I didn't enjoy this more, as there was really nothing odious about the children's performances, and while the script seemed a bit cliche in places, the dialogue wasn't bad, or badly delivered... but somehow it had an afternoon tv special feel to it.