Rama’s SCREEN

Wow! I never thought this movie was going to be appealing but after having seen it, I’m kinda glad I did. THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES is based on a series of books, which I have yet to read BTW, but the movie packs everything all into one so it won’t leave any unsatisfying, average cliffhanger like The Golden Compass. I like it better this way, it’s fast, family oriented, it’s got a bit of drama, definitely adventure and some pretty cool visual effects. This movie is… surprisingly magical.

A family movies into an old house that’s been in the family generation for years. Jarod (Highmore) finds a book and reads it, he disregards the warning note and in the process, awakens the goblins and the evil ogre bent on finding the book to steal whatever knowledge it holds in order to kill mankind and creature kind as well. Jarod is given the opportunity to see this magical world around him but he’s having a hard time getting his family to believe him.

I like how the movie doubles actor Freddy Highmore (He plays the character’s twin brother too). It’s as good as when Nicolas Cage was made into two people in Adaptation.
You gotta hand it to the British child star, Freddy’s been trying hard to do American accent even when he was in August Rush, he doesn’t get the accent quite right yet, but he’s getting there… you could still hear his thick British accent from time to time in this movie.
He’s a talented young actor, he successfully manages to play his two characters and makes them different from one another.

What I really like about this movie is the intensity of the adrenaline thrills and the sense of adventure that comes out of a series of chase scenes between the kids and the goblins or the monsters. It gets your heart pumping. There are surprises in every corner and the way the ogre gets defeated is simple and brilliant at the same time. I’m not gonna give any spoiler but I bet you’ll find it cool too.

The CGI visuals are amazing for a movie that comes out in February. The visuals are well done. I gotta give you a heads up though… some of the images and creatures featured may look a bit too scary for little kids to watch. Your little cousin and nephews and nieces might get nightmares from seeing some of the scenes.
Some audiences may find this movie to be a bit too fast, you don’t get the time to get to know the characters and the sequences happen so fast from one to the next. But hey, a three hour fantasy movie like LOTR is cool and all but I could use fast for a change.
Bottomline, this is an awesome family movie

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film