Fairytale comes alive on screen
Faeries, goblins and ogres have turned this children's book series into a fun, uplifting movie for all.
Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace, along side their mother Helen are forced to move into the rundown Spiderwick estate after their parents divorce, which left them with no place else to go. The estate is owned by the children's great - Aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright), who is no longer occupying it because she “went crazy” and is in the nut house.
Jared Grace (Freddie Highmore) is infuriated about having to move out to the middle of now where. He constantly fights with his mother, sister and even his twin brother Simon. Out of the two boys, Jared is the troublemaker; he is mouthy and constantly disregards his mother. Simon Grace (also played by Freddie Highmore) is the complete opposite. He is very caring, loves all animals, does what he is told and stays neutral whenever anyone is fighting. Their older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger) loves two things, fencing, and arguing with Jared.
The children are startled one evening by the sounds of something in the walls. While investigating, they discover a dumb-waiter that leads to a secret room that is full of strange books about faeries, tons of drawings of extraordinary creatures and a book written by their great, great Uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), called “The Field Guide.” Upon reading the guide, Jared discovers that there is an entire world of magical creatures all around them. Disregarding the warnings of the Brownie, Thimbletack (voice by Martin Short) that lives in their house, Jared takes the book outside the protective circle, setting in place a series of events that will endanger the entire Grace family.
Jared, Simon, and Mallory must embark on an epic adventure to prevent the book from falling into the hands of the evil ogre Mulgarath (Nick Nolte), who wants to use the book to kill all of the faeries, and take over the world.
This movie was excellent. It is based on five short children's book by the same and the creators did an excellent job recreating the magical world that was shaped by the books. All of the creatures were done perfectly. Obviously, some things from the books had to be changed for the movie, but very little. One change that stood out for me, was that the books a quite a bit darker than the movie, but they might have done this so that it appealed to a wider audience. Also, the final battle ended a little abrupt and there weren't as many different creatures as in the books.
Freddie Highmore (August Rush) was phenomenal. He plays twins who are polar opposites from one another and he does an amazing job. You would think that they are two separate people playing the roles. Each of the characters he plays has to change, and grow in different ways and he pulls it off. He is so talented, and he has a lot of depth, especially for being only 16-years-old. While the movie, like the books, is geared toward a younger crowd, it is still a lot of fun for people of all ages. It opens up a world that many people dreamed was real when they were young. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a movie about adventure, with strange, and magical creatures.
