A Fun-Filled, Hair-Raising, Spine-Tingling, Children's Fantasy
Written: Feb 17 '08 (Updated Feb 20 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great animation, strong dialogue, solid acting.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: I would highly recommend Spiderwick Chronicles as an entertaining, well-written Fantasy Thriller.
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| coldsteel7's Full Review: The Spiderwick Chronicles |
I took my son to see the Spiderwick Chronicles today. The movie started out with a Nickelodean acknowledgement, which sort of made me worried. I wasn't sure if that meant that it was going to be a silly movie, which would describe many of the other movies I have seen that Nickelodean was involved with. This movie was well done. NOTE: This review will reveal minor details regarding the plot.
Writing
The first thing I noticed about this movie was the rich dialogue. Although the plot has been done over and over again in different teen genres, the writing in this film was sharp. The dialogue didn't get too bogged down in drama, concentrating instead on weaving a fascinating story of fantasy, filled with fanciful figures that foment the imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and felt that there could not be much improvement in this area.
Acting
I did not realize that Nick Nolte played the ogre in this film until I looked up the movie afterwards. I thought he looked familiar. The ogre is pretty much animated in most of the movie, so there wasn't much acting required. Nick Nolte was a believable bad guy when he was in human form...but then again...he IS Nick Nolte. Freddie Highmore from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plays a troublesome hero that was well developed (if not cliche) in this film. He was a likable character, and his acting was spot on. The best part of the acting for me was the interaction with the animation, which always seems to me to be a tough concept. Do I believe the creatures are there with this actor? That is the question. In this film, the answer was a resounding yes. The animation adequately blended with the actors. These actors did an exceptional job selling the animation.
Plot
Our main characters in this film are three children who move into a new home due to the separation of their parents. One of the children discovers a book that unlock magical secrets of the world around them. What ensues is an exciting fantasy pitting the children against fantastic creatures who desire to control the world. In the process one of the troubled children comes to terms with his own anger over the separation.
Animation
How do you create a world of faeries and ogres and then have those creatures involved in intricate chase scenes and sword fights? I don't know the answer to that question, but the animators of Spiderwick Chronicles obviously did. There was quite a bit of action in this film and the animated creatures were heavily ensconced in the action. With animation that was flawless, the world of real life and the world of goblins were able to combine for a really amazing set of action sequences. There was a sword fight, a chase scene and a major battle scene, along with many other less active sequences. The animation was well done.
Action
This movie is full of action. For a movie aimed at a younger audience, I found myself getting edgy a few times. There were some unexpected surprises that sort of kept me on the edge of my seat. For a film that had animation in most of the action sequences, I have to say that they did a phenomenal job of drawing the audience into the action. I was really surprised at how well they accomplished this. The action sequences were phenomenal.
Rating
This movie was rated PG by the MPAA. This is an adequate rating. There were several fight scenes but no blood (unless you count green slime). There was on "Oh S***" scene where the word was not finished. That was the only scene that contained language. The creatures were animated exceptionally well, and they were adequately scary. So this movie could cause nightmares for very young children just based on the scariness of the creatures. I feel that the PG Rating is correct, and would suggest that children of any age could watch this film, as long as they are not prone to nightmares.
Overall Impression
Spiderwick Chronicles is an excellent film that is suitable for the entire family. Because of the size of some of the animation, this movie is probably a must see at the theater. The theater was not very busy when I attended the matinee today, which surprised me, since the release date was the 14th of February. Hopefully this movie will bring in the box office that it deserves. It was an exceptionally well done movie. Even if many of the elements in this movie have been done before, they were WELL done here. That makes a difference. I would highly recommend seeing this movie on the big screen while it is still playing. If today's showing was any indication, it may not last at the theater long. As if I need to actually say it...five stars out of a possible five.
Recommended:
Yes
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