You could be hasty and call “The Spiderwick Chronicles” another fantasy movie and then leave it alone, saying that if you’ve seen one fantasy movie you’ve seen them all. Let me contradict you!
Even though it has some ingredients similar to the usual fantasy movies there are some original ingredients too.
The film is based on the children's fantasy series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black and presents the story of the Grace family (Jared, his twin brother Simon, his sister Mallory, and their mom) who moves from New York into the house inherited by their mother from her great aunt Lucinda (Joan Plowright) who is in a mental institution for thinking that her father, Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), was abducted by fairies.
Soon strange things start to happen in the house, and the family blames Jared (Freddie Highmore, who also plays Simon). The three brothers start to search the house to see what is going on, and that is how they discover the supernatural world that surrounds the Spiderwick estate. As the family discovers the strange creatures that surrounds them and tries to fight them they are also forced to fight with their family conflicts.
Movie Type: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Kids MPAA Rating: PG for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes Directed By: Mark Waters Cast: Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright, David Strathairn Released: February 14th, 2008 (wide) U.S. Box Office:TBA