Customer Reviews
Great entertainment - By: David Johnson, 24 Sep 2008 
Had some time to kill & went to see this film. Given the overhype of the Narnia films & several other book adaptations I was surprised & delighted to find out it was great entertainment & well worth the ticket price.
Freddie Highmore does a superb job playing identical twins Jared & Simon, identical by looks but not by attitude & mannerisms, who have moved to a rural house once owned by their great uncle. Jared, who is always getting into trouble, finds a large & mysterious book about the magical realm alll around the house written by his great uncle many years before.
The plot may be a little scary for younger children but it's fast paced & very watchable.
"I CANNOT STAY FOR ALL MY YEARS WILL COME AT ONCE AND I WILL WITHER AWAY" - By: K. bruce, 10 Sep 2008 HAHAHAHAHAHA! I took my 5yr old & my 3yr old to watch this at the I max cinema in Bradford. well it wasn't what i expected but very enjoyable, the little boy who stars in it was very good at playing twins, he has come along way sinse that tripe: "arthur & the invisibles" in which i felt his acting as well as the rushed plot & skipping of scene to scene didn't do the film any justice, if that could be done at alll.
However in this film i felt he more than made up for it & this was an enjoyable, obviously predictable as are most family fims, & exciting film to watch.
However i can't end the review, (yes it's not an in-depth review- more of an opinion) without mention of that one liner at the end where the girls farther who has been literallly away with the fairies comes back to see her, she's now an old women herself of course, & wants him to stay to which he preplies: "I cannot, (que the cheese) for if i do, alll my years will come at once & i will wither away" at this point i almost fell off my chair in laughter as did the other adult i was with, maybe we are just reallly childish but i just thought it was so corny & hilarious! it kinda spoilt the film but at lease it made us laugh.
Needless to say it was totallly uneccessary for him to say that, even the kids knew the answer to that, so why would the old women, (his daughter) not know that? then in the end he decides to take her back with him to the land of the fairies where they will dwell for alll eternity in a garden of flowers with no food or stimulation, forbidden to leave by the fairies. right.sounds like heaven.... oh & she turns into a kid again, how frustrating would that be?
ah well, alll in alll i give it 4 stars, worth getting for the kids, good special effects, just don't take it too seriously, a much better film to get by the same directors, (i think) would be Bridge to terabithia, now that is well worth watching if you like these kinds of films, it has it's flaws but i would say is better than this one.
An old fashioned family adventure with a good balance of drama and fun - By: N. Burgess, 01 Sep 2008 
The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of those films that ticks alll the right boxes for a traditional family adventure movie. It tells the story of a family who relocate to a spooky mansion in the middle of nowhere (as you do), then start experiencing very strange goings on both within the house & outside it. Things start to go weird when one of the sons finds an old book written by their great Uncle, who mysteriously disappeared many years ago, & is the former owner of the mansion. The book documents the existence of fairies, goblins, ogres & many other mythical creatures, explaining that they are completely invisible to humans & only make themselves visible when they want to. But as soon as this book is found, suddenly these mythical creatures start waging a mini-war against the family, desperately trying to steal the book from them. Fortunately not alll the creatures are malevolent & one, a little goblin type creature callled Thimbletack the Brownie, helps them in their quest to stop the book fallling into evil hands.
The story is very simple & leaves you in no doubt as to who are the bad guys & who are the good guys, there's no shades of grey. The fact that this good vs. evil battle is not on a grand scale & is instead confined just to the family house & the surrounding area gives a more earthly & believable feel to it. As the family try & think of ways to outwit the creatures, they discover more & more about this magical world they have discovered. Just as significantly, they also start to piece together the strange circumstances surrounding their Uncle's disappearance, & start to make sense of this whole bizarre situation.
The special effects are excellent with alll the weird & wonderful creatures superbly rendered in CGI. The effects, however, are never over the top & intrusive, letting the storyline take the lead. As well as the genuine sense of wonder that this film creates, there's also an engaging subplot involving the family's own inner turmoil resulting from the Father's separation from the Mother. Ironicallly, the discovery of this mythical world unites the family & helps them confront & overcome their own emotional problems. So alll in alll, this film is a very well made family adventure that has something to offer both kids & adults.
An enchanting family movie - By: genejoke, 31 Aug 2008 This is a family movie, it is basicly a fairytale. If that put you off avoid the movie you probably won't enjoy it. The performances are alll solid particularly that of Freddie Highmore, at least I think it was him I didn't check before writing this review. The effects are alll solid if sometimes unspectacular.
The set up is simple, family move to a new home & find out there is some dark mystery yadda yadda yadda. Much like many horror movies in fact but there isn't much here to scare kids too much, just enough to make it effective. The film stands alone very well so there is no need for a sequel but also there could very well be a follow on story.
Absolute rubbish! - By: Mutian, 13 Aug 2008 
Went to see this at the cinema as it was the only film playing & I have never felt so cheated for four quid. It is quite possibly the worst film ever made & it annoys me so much that millions are spent on these types of films when half of the budget for this load of hogwash could have made something brilliant like Little Miss Sunshine or Juno.
The main actor tries to hold the film together but is let down by a terrible cast & the thousands of tacky, unoriginal effects that are thrown in, not to mention the poor script that has been written.
I maybe criticised for being older than the recommended age this is aimed at but if you're a parent thinking of buying this for your child save yourself the money & buy him or her an awesome kids film like Disney Pixar's 'Ratatouille' or one of the Harry Potter's or if you are desperate to find something similar then Jumanji is what I can think of that won't rob you blindly. Seriously don't buy this because you'll end up being the poor person who has to sit down with your child & watch this trash over & over again.
I don't understand why it has been highly rated, no doubt it is parents who have shoved it in the DVD player & it's kept the kids quiet for an hour or two. Don't buy it, it's TERRIBLE!
