Jevon Taylor, 19/06/2008
My sister’s kids loved this, even if I didn’t. It is the story of a recently divorced woman, or rather her children, moving home. Her children are the teenaged Mallory and young twins Simon and Jared. Jared is quite an angry, adventurous and difficult child. One day, exploring his new home, Jared discovers a mysterious key and “Spiderwick’s Field Guide”, a book about faeries. Despite a warning not to, he reads it. And then the special effect wizards are let loose and creatures start to enter the children’s lives. Griffins, ogres, goblins and faeries all feature. I think this, and the young protagonists’ adventures are what enthralled my young niece and nephew. But it is also what disappointed me. The CGI seemed to tread old water, the Harry Potter franchise came to mind (though that was immensely popular, and is not necessarily a bad thing), and the children moving to new place and finding faeries there also reminded me of Pan’s Labyrinth – which is much more interesting from an adults perspective. However, I am perfectly aware that it is the children’s perspective that is relevant here, and they were charmed and scared, and made to laugh by Spiderwick’s different computer generations. Which is good. But I also thought one thing about this movie was great – the acting. Particularly of Freddie Highmore who plays both twin brother, managing to create two distinguishable characters. Not bad for a sixteen year old, and very much worth watching, especially if you have children.
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