In "The Spiderwick Chronicles," based on the books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, a mother and her three children move into a cobweb-infested ancestral home, only to find the property already occupied by an assortment of goblins, ogres, griffins, fairies and sprites that the children's great-great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick, discovered living there a century earlier.
While the very youngest in the audience may be freaked out by the movie's intense action sequences and occasionally rather gruesome imagery, their older siblings will likely be drawn in by the darker tone and the self-aggrandizing nature of the kids-to-the-rescue scenario. Most adults, however, will probably find less than meets the eye in what is, essentially, a domesticated version of the "Narnia" movies. Still, what DOES meet the eye is often quite impressive, and the reassuring presence of such acting stalwarts as Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright and David Strathaim in minor roles goes a long way towards mitigating the rather mundane nature of the material.
While the very youngest in the audience may be freaked out by the movie's intense action sequences and occasionally rather gruesome imagery, their older siblings will likely be drawn in by the darker tone and the self-aggrandizing nature of the kids-to-the-rescue scenario. Most adults, however, will probably find less than meets the eye in what is, essentially, a domesticated version of the "Narnia" movies. Still, what DOES meet the eye is often quite impressive, and the reassuring presence of such acting stalwarts as Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright and David Strathaim in minor roles goes a long way towards mitigating the rather mundane nature of the material.