The Spiderwick Chronicles Field Guide Edition

By: The Dweeb

June 2008

DVD Features Video: 2.35:1 Audio:Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Disc 1: - Spiderwick: It’s All True! - It’s A Spiderwick World - Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide Disc 2: - Spiderwick: Meet the Clan - Making Spiderwick - The Magic of Spiderwick! - A Final Word of Advice… - Deleted Scenes Theatrical release: 2/14/2008 DVD released on 6/24/2008 by Paramount Running time of 101 minutes Starring: Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright, Mary-Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, David Strathairn, Freddie Highmore Director: Mark Waters Plot: From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house, strange things start to happen. As Jared  investigates, he discovers Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide and the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate: a secret world with fantastical creatures hide within our own! Now Jared, his sister and his twin brother are pulled into an unforgettable adventure as they try to protect the secrets of the book.

The current trend in the past couple of years has seen the release schedule filled with movie adaptations of children’s fantasy novels. From the superb films from the likes of authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis these successful adaptations have opened the flood gates in this genre and it seems Hollywood is hell bent clearing the shelves at the local Borders for more script material. Its like the super hero genre right now, its gettin crowded in here and who just farted?  I was fully expecting The Spiderwick Chronicles to be another mediocre entry into this genre, but found myself to be really enjoying this movie. Yes its a typical childhood fantasy film, but it stands a bit apart from others like Chronicles of Narnia as it is set in our modern world (and not in Europe either) and retains its sense of wonder and magic. Although it may seem like it would be a good movie for the younger set, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to get up all night because your kid is having a nightmare. Its more for older children who are still young enough to believe in fairy tales and magic, and if you are an adult that still believes than more power to you.

The film takes on a surprisingly dark tone almost right away, with the setup of the unknown creatures and noises lurking just beyond the wall of the old creepy house. Spiderwick almost crosses over to the horror genre in this respect, but eventually leads back down the lighter fantasy path. Definitely the stuff of nightmares though, some of the monster characters are just darn creepy and director Mark Waters knows how to play on our fears from childhood. Thanks for dredging that back up again, where is my therapists phone number? Also of note is the use of some adult styled themes that are woven into the story such as divorce, death, isolation and dealing with anger management. A common theme found in almost all films of this nature is that the main character is transformed in some way, usually by ‘growing up’ through these traumatic experiences during the film and the kids in this film are no exception.

Most of the time I find child actors in any sort of film to be not up to snuff due to lack of experience in front of the camera, or too shrill, or whiny sounding and one dimensional (I’m looking at you Spielberg!). This is not the case for this film thankfully. I thought Freddie Highmore and relative newcomer Sarah Bolger were excellent actors. Much to my surprise I had no idea both of them are foreign actors with heavy accents (British and Irish). Wow, they fooled me. I also did not pay any attention until afterward that the two brothers with completely opposite personalities were inhabited by Freddie. Wow kid, impressive. The supporting cast also was very good I thought, especially Nick Nolte playing Mulgarath but he’s a natural crab ass anyway so it was not much of a stretch for him. If you learn anything from this movie, do not talk to creepy old men in the forest. Some other voices behind the creatures who were enjoyable were Martin Short as Thimbletack and Seth Rogan lending a hand as Hogsqueal are a hoot.  I only wish David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick had more screen time, he’s such a great actor and brings major credibility to this film.

Not surprisingly this DVD’s technical aspects are top notch quality. Now that Blu-ray is starting to take hold DVD’s are starting to tarnish a bit slowly, but this one is still worth the package it comes in. The second disc has a nice assortment of extras including the interactive field guide. Most of the features are geared toward children as the awkward segments with director Mark Waters insisting everything you see here is real. Okay, I won’t spoil the fun for you then.

Overall, I found The Spiderwick Chronicles to be a very entertaining romp into fantasy, something that can be watched with the family (but not the wee kiddies!). Coupled with a good solid package this one is a winner.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!