The Spiderwick Chronicles
(2008) dir. Mark Waters
viewed: 02/15/08 at AMC Loews Metreon 16 with IMAX, SF, CA
Children’s literature, or just plain old kids books, are either going through a great period of growth and exceptionality or simply one of over-exploitation. And while the latter is probably more the case, there is some potential hope that the former may actually have some truth to it. Who knows? The latter is doubtlessly true either way.
Ever since J.K. Rowling broke the Harry Potter franchise on us and unleashed its cinematic offspring, oodles of other childrens book series have come, with a heavy bent on fantasy, culling the C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien traditions, but really probably mining Rowling more than anything else. I think that there is perhaps a modern aspect of this that leans toward fun, it does probably reek of potential franchises and dollars more than anything else.
Of these poorer man’s kids series, I haven’t managed to see several of the ones that came out last year, includeing The Golden Compass (2007) or Stardust (2007). One I caught on video a couple of years ago was Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) which didn’t offer much promise (or sequels as it turns out) but hasn’t hindered the actual books’ popularity. The Spiderwick Chronicles seemed to have been marketed a la the Lemony Snicket ones and I can’t say that the trailer really stood out for me.
That said, I ended up with a free day with my son, and realizing that my almost four year old daughter was doubtlessly a bit young for this film, we decided to take it in, though he hadn’t been really hit by the marketing for it.
Oddly enough, the marketing for a lot of upcoming releases had him enraptured, particularly Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Speed Racer (2008). Oddly enough, the trailer for the new Indiana Jones film seemed significantly weak.
The Spiderwick Chronicles turned out to be a pretty decent kids movie. My son was pretty scared by the ogres and the action, asking to leave and go home at one point. I could feel his heart racing and his body tensing through the action. But the film actually is tightly and deftly put together, getting going from the get-go (amazing how few films do not do such a thing), and keeping the action and narrative development moving constantly.
There are good performances by the lead child actors, particularly Freddie Highmore in a dual role as twin brothers, adventurous and mild, and I even liked their sister, played by Sarah Bolger.
The story follows a freshly separated family of four who relocate to a small town and an old house that formerly belonged to an old uncle Spiderwick who disappeared 80 years before when cataloguing pixies, ogres, and all kinds of fantasy life. His book of his scientific documentation is the source of great desire for an evil ogre and very quickly all hell breaks loose.
There’s not a lot of time for ruminating on the meanings of things and the art direction is naturalistic enough in its fantasy that it’s not overwhelming. I don’t know. I guess I was surprised that it was as enjoyable as it turned out to be. Definitely, not too shabby.
