Enjoyable, well made children's fantasy adventure with likeable characters, impressive special effects and a decent script.
Comment
10/18/08
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
79
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:109
Rotten:29
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: The Spiderwick Chronicles is an entertaining children's adventure, with heart and imagination to spare.
Theatrical Release:21-03-2008
Synopsis: Based on the bestselling series of children's fantasy novels of the same name by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES follows the adventures of the Grace family, newly... [More]
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright
Director: Mark Waters
Reviews for The Spiderwick Chronicles
Unexpectedly gripping.
03/25/08
Top CriticA run-of-the-mill fantasy adventure.
10/18/08
Top CriticA jolt of personality and above-average effects make this kids' fantasy adventure entertaining enough to overcome the cliches in its premise.
02/28/08
A late entry in a crowded field, Spiderwick works hard to set itself apart from the competition, and almost entirely succeeds - no mean feat these days.
03/20/08
Top CriticA fantasy adventure with the questionable uplifting message that revenge tastes sweet.
02/14/08
I kept wishing for another scene with Mulgarath in the form of Nolte, because, well, you can never have enough Nolte, and because his particular brand of kinetic insanity would have been just what the movie needed to shake up its clockwork smoothness.
02/14/08
Top CriticIf you're going to compete in an arena already owned by the "Harry Potter" and "Narnia" franchises, you'd better enter that fray determined to show you can compete favorably with them. And that's where "Spiderwick" runs into trouble.
03/09/08
Condensing five short juvenile novels into a single 90-minute film, the screenwriters have done a decent job of constructing a tale that will entertain tots without insulting parents’ intelligence.
02/21/08
The characters lack shadings -- Nolte's ogre is loud but uninteresting -- and the tone of the fantasy world isn't witty, like Harry Potter's, or satirical, like Lemony Snicket's. It's all just silly.
02/14/08
Here's the recipe for a delightful family film.
02/24/08
I found it to be more irritating than scary, more tedious than exciting.
02/19/08
Sloppy, secondhand pander.
02/14/08
Top CriticSpiderwick Chronicles provides lots of thrills and chills -- so much so that it may be too scary for younger viewers -- but it works best when it implies instead of showing.
05/01/08
It has plentiful whimsy, a big enough heart and Joan Plowright in one fine scene, burbling magnificently. It treats its archetypes with all due seriousness: Good must engage evil in a final stand. And fatherless children must try to save the world.
02/14/08
Instead of absorbing us into this magical landscape, this adaptation crams all five books together into a frenetic and frustrating 24-hour-escapade
02/14/08
that perfect nexus of childlike wonder and the terrors of the id. In other words, the perfect fairy tale that is about much more than the magical creatures
02/13/08
Meticulously rendered CGI creatures spike this dark adventure, shot marvelously by Caleb Deschanel.
02/15/08
For the uninitiated? Man, it's a bummer.
02/14/08
This movie didn't really blow me away, but it was mildly enjoyable and should keep all of the fantasy fans happy
07/22/08
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