The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a movie based on a series of Children's books with the same name. The majority of the action is centered around three children- two twin boys and a girl. In an interesting move by the movie makers, the same boy actor was selected to play both of the twins. I must admit, watching the movie I thought that they were two separate actors.

The story begins when we see the children and their mother moving into a seemingly abandoned mansion in the middle of a forest. Jared (the oldest of the twins) goes exploring in the house when some of their belongings go missing and stumbles upon a mysterious old book. When he starts reading the book, strange things begin to happen. Firstly he meets a strange creature who lives in the house and whose job is to protect the book. The creature (whose name turns out to be "Thimbletack") shows him how to see the fantastic creatures that live nearby. Jared learns that he has to protect the book from an Ogre who wants the power that it offers. So begins an exciting adventure that involves evil goblins, an Ogre and even a Troll! How can Jared and the children get rid of the Ogre and his goblins once and for all? The solution may involve the use of Tomato sauce....

This is a movie that should appeal to the whole family (except perhaps very young children) and isn't very long (about 90 minutes), so it should hold the attention of children. If you like fantasy stories, you will like this movie.

The Spiderwick Chronicles