Director: Mark Waters
Genre: Adventure/
Fantasy/ Family/ Drama/ Action
Runtime: 96
minutes
Year:
2008
Starring: Freddie
Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn, Nick Nolte, Seth Rogen, Martin
Short, Sarah Bolger, Andrew McCarthy, Ron Perlman
Description: Upon
moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate with their mother (Mary-Louise Parker),
twin brothers Jared and Simon (Freddie Highmore), along with their sister
Mallory (Sarah Bolger), find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of
faeries and other creatures.
Review: There are
countless magical beings living in our world, of which we know nothing because
we cannot see them. We humans only see them, if they want us to. Arthur
Spiderwick discovered that and started writing a book about all the secrets these
creatures. He indexes his findings in a scientific way, until he found out that
with all this knowledge, evil forces could wipe out all other fantastic
creatures and then be powerful enough to take on humans. He hid the book in his
house and put a protective magic circle around it so that the evil creatures
could not reach it.
Of course, such a secret does not stay hidden forever.
Eighty years later, distant reltives of Arthur Spiderwick movie into his old
house. Helen and her three children Mallory, Jared and Simon have decided to
move there after the divorce. Jared is the one that finds the book and he
releases the evil creatures.
The story of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” might not be
the most original family fantasy films, but it sure as hell is one hell of a
great time. The idea of children suddenly discovering a fantastical world full
of magic has been done so many times, but you can do it in so many ways. “The
Spiderwick Chronicles” has enough concept of its own to stand out.
The excellent acting of young Freddie Highmore in a
dual role contributes to that. The two kids he plays are clearly two different boys
with their own body language and personalities. Great voice performances also by
Seth Rogen, Martin Short and Nick Nolte.
“The Spiderwick Chronicles” is not an earth-shattering
or innovative film, but it is an entertaining family film with suspense, humor
and fun design (some parts might be a little too scary for the littlest
viewers).The film has a nice pace and fortunately follows its own internal
logic.
Rating: 3,5/ 5
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten