The Spiderwick Chronicles (Widescreen Edition)

the movie was so cool i wish every should see the movie i loved that it was cool even my kids loved it so mush.

A decent movie. I did not read the books so this is based solely on the movie.

Based on many of the reviews here I expected a fun, family movie suitable for my 5 year old. No way. I'm glad I saw it first because I'll put it on the shelf and let her see it when she is older.

I thought we would see people interacting with fairies, elves and other amazing but good hearted creatures. There wasn't enough of that. But our disappointment isn't just about the monsters, conflict and peril. My little one actually loves a good fantasy movie with odd creatures and she likes a little carnage of the computer generated fantasy sort. She loves Narnia. She would be OK with a lot of this in Spiderwick because she can clearly see it is fantasy.

I think one problem is that we don't get to see much of the "good" creatures. The main one is a brownie and he also has a dark side to himself. The "bad" creatures are the ones that get the most screen presence. The main settings, the house and woods, are consistently foreboding and dark as well.

But it is the social-emotional lives of these two dysfunctional families that makes this film a little too dark for young children. Each family is dealing with the father's abandonment and these sad relationships come across with a sense of reality despite the plot and fanciful creatures. The script and acting makes the relationships seem more real than the ones lets say in Harry Potter. I mean Harry's uncle and aunt are strongly painted as caricatures for ridicule. Even my daughter think they're funny although on a certain level they could be considered child abusers of the worst sort.

So I think this is too dark on a number of levels for small kids. I'm thinking 10-15 is a better minimum age. However if you think your child would enjoy seeing a 12 foot high evil monster turn into the family's father and say "I love you" to "his" son only to get stabbed by the son, go for it!!

Otherwise fantasy film fans will want to take a look. There are a couple of twists I found really fun although most of the plot was not quite so imaginative. For our family it was also a significant negative that there are no subtitles. In the end I'm sorry I bought a new copy so early. I wish I had waited for it to arrive in the $5 bin at Blockbusters.

Purchased as a gift for my 11 year old grandaughter, she was thrilled with it and enjoyed the movie very much. Great price and delivery also.

I do not know the books. But the movie is well made, It just lacks originality. You get the feeling you saw those things before. I suppose with so many movies around it is hard to be original. However, the movie does hold the viewer interest and has good entertainment value. I wish the fight scenes would have been toned-down to accommodate a wider range of audience.

This is a good solid piece of film-making. It could have been great story telling but the writing fell disappointingly flat. The ensemble was stellar, but struggled against a so-so script; i.e., a rushed conclusion as if the director and screenplay writer got bored with the project. The movie did well in spite of itself. The SFX were terrific and the gnomes, demons and things that go bump in the night blended into the scenery and dialogue seamlessly.

You won't be disappointed in the movie for popcorn-munching-in-the-living-room entertainment. But if you're a fan of the books, you know the movie has just skimmed the surface of possibilities. Let's hope for another Spiderwick movie with more spirit and heart than its parent-film. In the meantime, keep your salt and tomato sauce handy.