Video Fun House film fans Jean Tarbett Hardiman and John Gillispie share their opinions on "The Spiderwick Chronicles," rated PG. Jean thought the movie was too scary for kids, and John thought the movie was entertaining in the vein of "Bridge to Terabithia."
JOHN: It's a good thing that "The Spiderwick Chronicles" wasn't based on my childhood.
JEAN: Why do you say that?
JOHN: Well, in the film, a family of twin boys, their older sister and their mom move to a secluded home and discover a book that warns that reading it will result in bad things happening. If I had found that book, I would never have opened it and spent the next 40 years wondering what was in the book.
Of course, that wouldn't make a very interesting movie, would it?
JEAN: Nope. But the young Jared Grace, played by Freddie Highmore (of "August Rush" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), barely gives the warning a second thought and enters a world full of magic and some really ugly creatures.
JOHN: I thought that "The Spiderwick Chronicles" was entertaining in the way that "Bridge to Terabithia" was. Both movies provide parents with the opportunity to sit down and discuss the line between imagination and reality. Although there are scary creatures in movies, parents can reassure children about the difference between imaginary dangers and real dangers.
JEAN: Whatever you say. I'm all for kids using their imaginations, but this movie was not my cup of tea, and definitely would not have been as a child. This is the deal: The family has moved into a house where a man once lived who discovered all these secrets of the fantastical world -- good and ugly -- and put them in a book. This really terrifying bad guy, Mulgarath, who can change forms and has the voice of Nick Nolte, wants to get his hands on the book so he can destroy everything. And he has a bunch of goblins to do his bidding. The only reason they can't get into this house to get the book is because of a charmed ring of mushrooms circling it for protection.
JOHN: When they try to get inside the ring, they bump into this invisible wall. The creatures themselves are invisible, too, unless you look through a special lens.
JEAN: Or unless Hogsqueal spits in your eyes. He's a good creature, though a little rough around the edges. He has the voice of Seth Rogen and is obsessed with eating birds. He and a little creature who lives in the house, voiced by Martin Short, are fun. But those goblins reminded me of the Orcs in the "Lord of the Rings" series. They're not as fierce, but they're just not pleasant to see. In fact, as a child, the creatures in "The Spiderwick Chronicles" would have scared me right to death before my parents had a chance to sit down and talk about the line between real life and movies.
JOHN: We should point out that you are very easily scared.
JEAN: True. And I would like to point out that adults who like fantasy may like this very much. David Strathairn plays the author of the chronicles, and he's great. Highmore, who plays twins Jared and Simon Grace, is talented, and Mary Louise Parker is good as their mother, though she has a smallish part. I was impressed by the creativity in the story, which was based on books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Maybe I would have liked the books better because in your imagination, you can make things only as scary as you want.
JOHN: I'm not sure if that's true, but you can tell yourself that, Jean. Whatever makes you feel brave.
Jean Tarbett Hardiman is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. John Gillispie is the public relations director of the Huntington Museum of Art. Contact the writers at jeant@herald-dispatch.com.
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