Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Python Hyena The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008): Dir: Mark Waters / Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, David Strathairn, Andrew McCarhty: This is one of the most idiotic big budget movies since Wild Wild West. The plot has all the excitement of burnt toast. A family moves into a big house where a magical book is discovered by a boy, played by Freddie Highmore. It was written by his great uncle and can unleash evil creatures. That sounds like a great thing to leave for one's family. Why not just leave them a very large check and save them the headache. Director Mark Waters does his best but he really should go back to what worked for him. Mean Girls worked as one of the best of teen flicks that its target audience can relate to. With Spiderwick Chronicles he revisits the stupidity of Head Over Heels and that is a major scale backwards. This film has a whole family of morons. When told not to take the book outside the house, Highmore does so not once, but twice. That's a prime example of a kid who uses no common sense. Mary Louise Parker has the thankless role of mother-who-doesn't-listen-to-kids-and-yells-a-lot role. Sarah Bolger is given the embarrassing role of sword fighter sister. Finally there is David Strathairn as the senile uncle who comes off as if he walked onto the wrong film set. Despite fine visual elements, this film should be destroyed alongside the book. Score: 2 / 10

culbeda Other than the names of the characters and the house, this bore almost no resemblance to the books. Compressing 5 books totaling almost 600 (sparse) pages into 95 minutes IS a challenge, but this "adaptation" sucked the soul from the series and turned it into a mini-horror movie for kids.If you have young kids, skip the movie and read the books. They're a quick read and offer so much more entertainment, imagination and wonder than this movie did.Things you'll find in the books that you won't find here: Characters that aren't complete jerks, mystery, a sense of adventure, more existing creatures and far more interesting challenges.

richieandsam THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLESI have seen this film once before and real enjoyed it, but there wasn't much I remembered about it... which made it all the more exciting to see it again because it was like watching a new film again.The movie is about a single mother and her 3 children that have just moved into a house in the country. the house used to belong to Arthur Spiderwick. What the family are not expecting is to be in the middle of a world full of fairies and goblins that are trying to kill everyone.The story is a lot of fun and the film is generally well written. I enjoyed the adventure these kids go on. It has a lot of twists and turns that keep you watching. I loved the idea of only seeing the goblins if they want to be seen. There is a way of seeing themThe effects are very good. I loved the look of the goblins and creatures. I thought it might have been a little scary for little children, but this is a good family movie.The acting wasn't too bad either considering it had child actors in. The movie stars Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Sarah Bolger, Andrew McCarthy and Joan Plowright. I am a fan of Freddies. I thought he was OK in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I like him even more in Bates Motel. He has to play 2 parts in this movie and I thought he did a good job considering he had to play 2 different personalities. Mary also did a good job.This film is a lot more fun than it got credit for. It should have had a better reception I feel from the critics. If you like fantasy movies, then this film is one to watch.I will give it 7 out of 10."Vengeance or death!... Hopefully vengeance."For more reviews, please like my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl

jbonner71 The Spiderwick Chronicles is a fine, family film in the tradition of Harry Potter and The Golden Compass, and like those other franchises, it is based on a beloved series of children's books. Although I would strongly argue that Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (from which The Golden Compass comes) goes far beyond simple "good vs. evil" children's fare; that is an argument best suited for another time and place…The basic plot line of The Spiderwick Chronicles goes like this: upon moving into the dilapidated Spiderwick Estate with their mother, Helen (the MILF-tastic Mary-Louise Parker), the Grace children — twin brothers Jared and Simon (both played with aplomb by Freddie Highmore) and their sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) — find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of fantastical creatures.Unable to explain the mysterious occurrences that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family finds a scapegoat in the unruly Jared. When he, Simon, and Mallory stumble upon Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide and begin to look into what's really going on, they uncover the incredible truth of the Spiderwick Estate and of the creatures that populate it.In and of itself, the movie is well done, but nothing spectacular, and is carried by the charisma of its two young stars (Highmore and Bolger). There is a "broken family" sub-plot that just weighs the film down and feels tacked on. In my opinion, those scenes could've easily been edited out and this would've streamlined the fantasy elements of the film, which are, undoubtedly, its best parts.The DVD I reviewed was of the Blu-ray variety and does offer a superior quality of picture and sound. The digital creature effects seem to jump off the HDTV screen, and the colors, especially in the faerie realm, are truly vibrant and crisp on my monitor set at 1080p. The 5.1 Dolby True HD sound mix is alternately thunderous and airy in the appropriate places, but does seem a bit too center-channel concentrated for my liking. If I'm in an expansive fantasy realm, I want to feel it. Unfortunately, this disc didn't quite get me to that level of aural immersion.The special features found on this disc consist mostly of making of and back-slapping featurettes, which are nicely presented in HD. The best special feature found here is the interactive, enhanced Blu-ray version of the Spiderwick Field Guide that you can access at various points throughout the film when certain creatures pop up or events unfold. This is cool and all but can be distracting on your initial viewing of the film, so you may want to turn this feature on only during subsequent viewings of the movie.At the end of the day, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a solid, if unspectacular, entry into your DVD/Blu-ray collection, especially if you have younger children at home. If you don't have kids, I would suggest a rental over an outright purchase, as it isn't one of those "showcase" DVDs that will dazzle your friends and neighbors.