Nappaland's MovieBlog

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THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (PG)

Plot Summary: Upon moving into a new home, three children embark upon an adventure full of fairies, goblins and ogres.

Reason for the Rating: Scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements.

When Helen Grace (Mary-Louise Parker) moves herself and her three children to an old family home, little does she know the adventure that awaits them. Almost immediately, Jared (Freddie Highmore), the son most unhappy about the move, discovers something living in the walls. Everyone else thinks it’s a squirrel, but Jared isn’t so sure. When he finds an old dumbwaiter hidden in the wall, he quickly begins exploring the house and discovers a diary of sorts, written by his great-great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) eighty years prior. Disregarding the note of warning on the outside, Jared opens the book and reads about mystical creatures Spiderwick met in the woods surrounding the house.

Of course, no one believes Jared. Let’s face it, goblins, ogres and fairies aren’t exactly creatures we accept as a part of everyday reality. But, once Hogsqueal (voice of Seth Rogan) spits in their eyes, Jared, twin brother Simon (also played by Freddie Highmore), and their older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) can see everything.

Unbeknownst to them all, Mulgarath the Ogre (voiced by Nick Nolte) has been waiting eighty years to gain possession of the book. So, when Jared leaves the house with book in hand, Mulgarath and the goblins begin plotting. Fortunately for Jared, his great-great uncle placed magic toadstools around the house which act as a force field, if you will, which the ogres and goblins cannot cross. Unfortunately for Jared’s twin brother Simon, no one is aware of this circle, and as soon as he crosses over the line the goblins, mistaking him for Jared, take him to Mulgarath.

In some ways Spiderwick Chronicles reminded me of Jumanji, as characters in both movies find something (a book and a game) that bears a warning to the finder…”do not read” or “do not play,” as doing such will unleash an adventure you probably don’t want to take. Jared’s adventure, though, doesn’t stem from another world, but from a world we see as nature. Flowers that are really fairies. Dandelion seeds that are sylphs. We just don’t have the eyes to see them.

Like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Jumanji, Spiderwick Chronicles is based on a children’s book, but this movie really isn’t for young children. Those under the age of ten probably shouldn’t see it, as there are scenes that are not only scary, but shocking for children. I’m not sure why it received a rating of PG, as PG-13 would probably have been more accurate.

MOVIEBLOG RECOMMENDS:

This is an exciting, imaginative movie that older children and adults will both enjoy.

AFTER THE SHOW: 

• Do you believe in a world we cannot see? What does the Bible have to say about that?

• What do you think would have happened if Jared hadn’t gotten in the dumbwaiter and found the book?

• Would Jared have behaved differently if he had known the truth about his father from the beginning? Why is honesty so important?

JW

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