a young boy finds an ancient book in the secret attic of a strange house he has just moved into. Inside it is an inscribed title: Arthur Spiderwick's field guide to the fantastic world around you. That has a certain poetry to it, does it not? The word "fantastic" is especially compelling and if there was one word to describe this movie it would be very appropriate. This movie made me wish it was made ten years ago so I could have seen it first when I was eleven. I wish I could have read the book then too.
America has been forever been tailing behind England when it comes to mystical realms. After all they have Hogwarts, Narnia, and Middle Earth. What do we have? Well now we have Spiderwick, which is certainly not as big but that's also one of its charms. The movie is based on a series of books by Holly Black. It's a kids story and it takes place all around a single house and the forest in which it inhabits. After Jared (played by Freddie Highmore who keeps growing taller each time I see him) finds the book he is introduced to a whole range of strange creatures that inhabit the house and forest. The book explains it all.
This movie does not pull punches. After it is known in the forest that the book has been found, an ogre named Molgrath sends his goblins over to steal it and kill the family. These aren't cutesy Disney villains that have accident prone sidekicks. These are serious dudes and they have sharp teeth that bite. There is no kidding here. They are literally trying to kill the kids. There are truly scary moments in this film as they attempt to do so. A particularly great scene involves the father of Jared. I fear I have already given too much away.
And on top of this we have the portrait of a family that is going through a divorce. Jared loves his father, who has left him, and resents his mother for the breakup of the family. The movie doesn't pull any punches here too. It's amazing that a children's film can have so much courage. The movie is emotional to watch sometimes as inside the family is fighting with real problems and outside there are evil forces trying to kill them all. If it weren't for some good comic relief creatures this would be more of a horror movie than a children's film.
Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Good Year) continues his streak of good movies and superb child acting. He pulls double duty in this film, playing identical twins. He does a good job of creating two distinct characters. It's probably a good thing for him that he isn't too cute, or soon he would be forced to do stupid movies for stupid teenage girls. Still I hope someday he does a movie with Dakota Fanning, that other great child actor. I think that movie would be something to watch.
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