THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES
Director: Mark Waters Stars: Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, David Straithairn, Joan Plowright, Andrew McCarthy, Nick Nolte, voices of Martin Short, Seth Rogen
Reviewed by GREG KING
The market for film adaptations of literary fantasies aimed at adolescents has been very crowded of late. While some have been excellent – in particular the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles Of Narnia and Bridge To Terabithia – many have been awful – Eragon, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, and the recent overblown and very disappointing The Golden Compass.
So it was with a bit of trepidation that one approached this adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles, which has been adapted from a series of popular fantasy novels written by Holly Black and illustrated by Tony Di Terlizzi. Five novels have been compressed into one stand-alone film, but the result is generally excellent. The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the best fantasy films around for the holiday season, even though some scenes may be a bit too scary or violent for younger audiences.
Following a recent messy divorce, the dysfunctional Grace family moves into the sprawling and abandoned Spiderwick estate, which used to belong to their eccentric great uncle Arthur, who vanished without a trace eighty years earlier. While the mother (Mary-Louise Parker, from cult tv series Weeds, etc) tries to find work her three children are left to explore this strange and eerie old house. Freddie Highmore plays the twin brothers Jared and Simon; the former is surly and resentful of his mother, while the latter is a quieter and more studious type, and Sarah Bolger plays Mallory, their tomboyish sister.
When Jared finds a mysterious book, which documents his great uncle’s scribblings about a fantastical world inhabited by goblins, pixies and ogres, he also inadvertently opens a door to another secret world hidden from human sight. The evil troll Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) wants to obtain the book and its secrets to gain control of the human world. Somehow the squabbling family must come together to fight these creatures and protect their house. They also seek help and advice from their aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who has been shut away in an asylum for decades.
The fantasy of The Spiderwick Chronicles is grounded in some very relevant themes exploring dysfunctional families, teenage rebellion, courage, etc, all of which give the film a contemporary context. Mark Waters (the superior teen film Mean Girls and the remake of Freaky Friday, etc) handles the material superbly. He has a good eye for the visual quality of the film, and, unlike some recent fantasy films, here the marvellous special effects serve the film rather than overwhelm it. Some of the otherworldly bits may also remind audiences of the recent animated fantasy Arthur And The Invisibles, which also starred Highmore.
The performances of the young cast are uniformly strong, given that, for most of the time, the performers are reacting against a green screen. Highmore continues to impress as one of the best child actors around at the moment, and here he manages to depict the different personalities of his twin brothers through the clothes he wears, the way he does his hair, etc. He has a knack for choosing roles of substance and depth (Finding Neverland, August Rush, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, etc), all of which show his extraordinary range, and as long as he keeps choosing his roles with care he will be around for quite some time. He may even avoid the burn out suffered by many precocious child stars.
Martin Short and Seth Rogen provide some comic relief as the voices of two prominent fairy tale creatures. Plowright brings a touch of class to her role. David Strathairn, Nolte and Andrew McCarthy are given little to do and are wasted in their brief appearances.
****