The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing The Spiderwick Chronicles
based on the books of the same name. This movie finds the Grace family moving into the Spiderwick Estate and into some strange adventures.
What did you think Mike?
Mike: I liked this. I have not read the books, but I found this captured my attention and had some great visual effects.
What about you?
Scott: I haven't read the books and it had a certain rushed feel to it, but it was good. I think I would have been disappointed in some aspects had I read the books, just because it had the feel of glossing over of some things. But it was much better than The Golden Compass, another recent movie based on a book.
Mike: Yes after The Golden Compass disappointment, I wasn't sure what to expect.
Scott: The effects in this movie weren't as overblown and fit into the fabric of the movie. The Golden Compass was all effects.
Mike: This was more in line with The Chronicles of Narnia.
Scott: When that came out people mentioned that several aspects of multiple books took place in that one movie. I think the same happened here.
Mike: The ILM effects certainly meshed better in this film than the effects in Compass.
By reading the titles of all the Spiderwick books, it looks like this movie covers them all. According to my nephew they are pretty short books.
Scott: Freddie Highmore plays the adventuresome boy, Jared Grace, who finds a book that describes a secret world that surrounds us. Once he reads the book, the evil Mulgarath (Nick Nolte) and his minions come running to get the book.
Interestingly, Freddie Highmore was the voice of Pantalaimon from the Golden Compass.
Mike: Freddie has done a nice job in everything I have seen him in. Here he does double duty as both Jared and his brother Simon.
Scott: They managed to make the boys look just different enough that I wasn't sure they were the same person.
Mike: He was also in Arthur and the Invisibles, which has a similar story about uncovering a hidden world. Unfortunately, that movie wasn't very good.
Scott: It was nice to see Mary-Louise Parker again as the mom Helen Grace. She has been in movies and TV lately, I just haven't seen them. I found it odd that she is playing a mom now. She used to be the young single woman in the movies. I guess I am getting old.
Mike: She does a good job as a struggling single mother trying to raise 3 kids and start a new life. Just remember she is my age.
Sounds like you like older women.
Scott: She was one of the many women I grew up watching on the big screen and as such will always hold a special place in my mind.
This movie had a mini flashback to my youth with Parker, Nolte, and 80's fixture Andrew McCarthy.
Mike: Where has McCarthy been? It looks like he has done several TV series I have never heard of. I noticed he has also reappeared on the new Lipstick Jungle show with 80's girl Brooke Shields.
Scott: I have seen him in a couple of them, but mostly, I lost track of him,
Mike: Honestly, the last time I remember seeing him was in Weekend at Bernie’s or something. The funny thing is if you blink you may miss him in this movie.
Scott: He was only there for a moment.
Mike: Nolte plays the evil Mulgarath, who can transform into various forms. The funny thing is none of them are quite as scary as his mug shot.
Scott: I will never forget that mug shot and that's not a good thing.
The two big animated characters you see in the movie have voices you recognize, but just can't place. Martin Short is the funny Thimbletack who suffers from a split personality and Seth Rogen is Hogsqueal, the critter with an appetite for the birds.
Mike: As you know I am pretty good guessing voices and I was stumped. They sounded familiar, but I couldn't place either of them.
Scott: Director Mark Waters has done some cute movies in the past. I liked Just Like Heaven and really liked Mean Girls. Of course Mean Girls had both Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams and having them helped a lot.
Mike: I liked his Freaky Friday also.
Scott: I have to admit that I liked that movie too.
Mike: With this movie, it looks like he can actually make a picture without Lindsay Lohan. That may be a good thing.
Scott: Now-a-days it's best to make movies with actors other than the bad girls of Hollywood.
How do you rate this?
Mike: I give this a 3.5 overall and a 4 for family adventure. It’s nice to have a family movie rated PG. It’s not too scary and not too dull for the adults.
And you?
Scott: I give this a 3 overall and a 3 for family adventure. I thought it was a neat movie.
Mike: Neat, you say?
Scott: Yeah, neat. Right-oh. On point. Left-in.
This weekend get caught in the web of the Spiderwick Chronicles.
