Spiderwick Chronicles

Released by: Paramount
Released on: 6/24/2008
Director: Mark Waters
Cast: Sarah Bolger, Freddie Highmore
Year: 2008
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Movie:

While Paramount's recent theatrical release of The Spiderwick Chronicles was aimed primarily at kids, the fact of the matter is that this is a picture that can, for lack of a cornier cliché, act as fun for the whole family. A monster mash at heart, it's an entertaining movie that doesn't overstay its welcome or try to hard to be anything more than fun entertainment.

The movie follows the Grace family as they move from New York City into a home that Helen (Mary-Louise Parker) has inherited. Her three kids - Jared (Freddie Highmore), Mallory (Sarah Bolger) and Simon (Freddie Highmore again) - aren't initially too keen on the idea and are still reeling from the fact that Helen and their father, Richard (Andrew McCarthy) have split up. Jared finds a secret room inhabited by a small honey-obsessed creature named Thimbletack (Martin Short) and which contains a book about magical creatures written by Arthur Spiderwick with a warning on top advising anyone of opening its pages.

Of course, Jared ignores the warning on the front of the book and opens it, and soon he and his family find themselves involved in a battle against Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), a sinister monster who wants the book and the secrets that it contains and who also controls a veritable army of goblins. Thankfully, a hobgoblin named Hogsqueal (Seth Rogan) is there to help, but Jared's going to have to do most of the work on his own, particularly because initially his family doesn't even believe him.

Well paced and good fun, The Spiderwick Chronicles isn't exactly deep but it moves along quickly and provides enough action, adventure and goofy humor to work. The younger audience will probably enjoy it more than jaded grown ups but anyone entertained by fantasy films ought to give it a shot. The effects, though almost completely rendered in CGI from start to finish, are pretty effective and contain a lot more detail than you'd probably expect.

The humor is crass and childish at times - Hogsqueal provides most of it by eating birds and spitting on people - but it works. The movie has some nice atmosphere and a lot of great monster designs and the voice actors, Nolte in particular, all do a great job bringing their creations to life. The younger actors - Highmore and Bolger, specifically - aren't going to take home any awards for their work here but Mary-Louise Parker isn't bad as the mother and it's fun to see Andrew McCarthy in a small supporting role.

Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1080p ACC Mpeg-4 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on this Blu-ray release looks great. There isn't a spot of print damage to be seen and grain is held firmly in check. The image looks as clean and colorful as you'd expect from such a recent film while detail is strong in the foreground and the background throughout the movie. There are a couple of spots where the colors look better than others but overall this is a nice, vibrant image with strong black levels and accurate skin tones. You might notice some softness in the more effects intensive sequences but all complaints here are minimal, as The Spiderwick Chronicles looks very solid.

The English language 48 kHz 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround track is pretty solid even if the rear channels could have been a bit more active in some spots. There's still no shortage of surround activity but a couple of the action scenes might have used a little more punch in that regard. Bass response is nice and strong with plenty of bounce while the higher pitched portion of the mix stays clear throughout.

First up is a seven minute featurette entitled Spiderwick: It's All True. Here we get a chance to learn about some of the characters by way of some input from the film's director, Mark Waters. Not an essentially supplement but one that's worth checking out if you dug the film. It's A Spiderwick World is a talk with the authors of the original books that the film is based on. It's interesting to learn their thoughts on the finished film and about some of the differences between the movie and the book series.

Meet The Clan is a fun featurette that allows the various cast members to talk about their experiences working on the picture. It isn't as deep a it could have been but there are some fun stories here. More interesting is the Making Spiderwick featurette that uses cast and crew interviews as well as behind the scenes footage to show us what went into making this movie. If you want more information on the special effects used in the picture, The Magic Of Spiderwick will give you what you need as it explores how the creatures and effects were created for the film.

Those who dig the 'in movie' experience should enjoy the expanded version of Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide. Specific to the Blu-ray release of the movie, when enabled this featurette provides text and illustrations that provide some interesting background information on the various characters and creatures that populate the film.

Rounding out the extras is a quick interview with the director called A Final Word Of Advice, eight minutes of deleted scenes, most of which are slim character bits (and might have helped the movie had they been left in), and a couple of TV spots and a theatrical trailer for the film. Spiffy menus and chapter selection options are also included. All the extras are presented in HD which was a nice touch.

The Final Word:

The Spiderwick Chronicles is essentially a kid-friendly monster movie. It's a fun popcorn film for the entire family and what it lacks in interesting characters it makes up for with plenty of monsters and effects. Deep? Nope. Fun? Yeah, it really is.