Clevercell Very disappointing...

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

SanteeFats An extremely well done and entertaining movie. When her husband dumps the family, mom and the three kids move back to daddy's old home. Aunt Lucinda, daddy's sister has been taken to a booby hatch because she sees fairy's so the house appears abandoned. Surprise! There is a brownie (Thimbletack) living in the house. He is there to protect a book written by Arthur Spiderwick before he disappeared many years ago. In this book Spiderwick has identified the unseen world. This book is sought by the king nasty fey Mulgarath. Nick Nolte has what is basically a cameo playing Mulgarath as an old man (he does the voice as well). He looks almost as bad here as in his mug shots. The CGI in this film is some of the best I have seen. When Thimbletack gets angry he transforms into another creature, the transformation is done seamlessly to my eye. He is brought back when given honey. The other excellent transformations are when Mulgarath shape shifts at different points in the movie. The fight scene between the sister and the unseen goblins is so well done. One of the twin brothers can see them using a special ring and calls out their positions to his sister using clock times. I can recommend this movie for the entire family it is just well done, funny, and serious.

Leofwine_draca THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES is a perfectly entertaining children's fantasy film that provides a neat alternative to those viewers who've overdosed on Harry Potter's antics. This one is a neat, standalone tale of mythical monsters and invisible beasties, and the three kids who have to fight them in an old, crumbling house in the remote countryside.The film provides plenty of action and lots of special effects (CGI, of course), which are for the most part very well achieved. There's humour (some of which, like the Seth Rogen character, I could have done without), scary scenes, and a great deal of imagination. It's all very familiar and rather predictable - in fact, I had virtually the same idea for a story like this, once - but there's little to dislike.Okay, so the script could have been a little tighter; there's a little too much yelling and shrillness early on, before the characters of the protagonists are given a chance to come out. The casting of Freddie Highmore in the dual role is very good, though, and something I didn't spot until about halfway through. Sarah Bolger, late of THE TUDORS, is excellent as ever. The director could have been better, but as I said, there's little to dislike in this one.

jannayu-subaju What surprised me the most was actually the length of the film. It was fairly short (90 minutes) and I felt that the producers made a huge mistake by attempting to cram all five books into one film instead of dividing them into separate features. I had recognized a few of the scenes from the books, but overall it seemed very rushed and excluded many of the series most exciting moments. Any fan of the books would probably be disappointed in the way the series was handled and executed.As for the rest of film, I thought it was well done. The CGI continues to be to focal point in most of these types of family films and the producers spent a great time with its detail and design. The fairies looked neat, the goblins were frightening, and the big bad ogre looked well… big and bad.Overall, I would say this film would make for a great matinée on a Sunday with the kids. There are several moments that may scare children under the age of five, but otherwise it should appeal to children of all ages.

Gavin Cresswell (gavin-thelordofthefu-48-460297) I was actually fond of my liking with the Spiderwick Chronicles books. Although, not as compelling as the HP series, TCON series, and TLOTR trilogy, they were entertaining and enjoyable little novels. So, after seeing that Hollywood turned all five of those novels into this feature length film, I was very impressed at how visually interesting this movie was. There are two problems that I do have with this film.The film focused too heavily on the special effects that didn't tone up the pacing and since it was based on all five books (though it did quite capture the darker tone of the books), the story elements from book 4 and book 5 were absent in equivalent to cinema quality although it was faithful to the first three books and the climax of the fifth book.With that said, this is a dark and enjoyable family film. The concept about a boy who finds a book made by an old man naked Arthur Spiderwick was so amazing it keeps the drama at its proper level during the solid action sequences throughout this flick. The acting is great. The voice actors for Thimbletack, Hogsqueal, and the evil ogre Mulgarath including Martin Short, Seth Rogen, and Nick Nolte were fabulous and the human actors including Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger, David Strathairm and Joan Plowright did amazing, but I think Freddie Highmore steals the show for portraying both Jared and Simon Grace beautifully because he sure has some talent from the other films he starred from. Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, August Rush, The Golden Compass, you name it. I even liked the wonderful music score from the brilliant James Horner that has a surprising mix of drama, suspense, and emotion.Although, not on par with other fantasy flicks like Harry Potter, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings, The Spiderwick Chronicles is an enjoyable action family movie from Paramount Pictures. A solid thumbs up from me.