Spiderwick Chronicles: a Review
Disappointing Adventure Film Starring Freddie Highmore
Spiderwick Chronicles is a good idea gone bad due to poor directing and a weak lead performance by Freddie Highmore. The basic storyline has potential: family drama, mythical creatures, and some PG-rated danger. The end result is a little muddled though.
Split Story Line Is Confusing
The movie opens with the tension of the family split. Kate Beckinsale plays the overwrought, newly single mom who is necessarily removed from her kids by the pain of her divorce. Blames are tossed, stress is spread abundantly. And it is into this tangle that the goblins, fairies, and other waist-high creatures are introduced. It is quite the shift in mood, to say the least. Throughout the movie, there are reminders of the family mess, always feeling rather forced and irrelevant to the apparent danger at hand.
This split in story is not an impossible one, only a delicate balance in acting and direction. Jumanji, for example, is a movie which has no problem balancing wild adventure with family emotion. It also features an old, abandoned house which is taken over by a battle-scarred family, and they stumble upon just as many secrets as the Spiderwick clan does. However, led by Robin Williams, these characters in Jumanji seem to be expressing only natural desires and emotions. The flow is not interrupted, only widened to include these many aspects.
Poor Performance by Freddie Highmore Is Surprising
At the age of sixteen, Highmore has already built quite a resume, a growing stack of starring roles, most of them solid and impressive. He has played several variations on the good-hearted innocent, from inheritor of a chocolate factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) to young orphan and music prodigy (August Rush).
The main difference for Highmore here is in the actual character – he has never attempted to play the so-called typical American teen. His characters have all been mild-mannered, soft spoken, far too angelic to even consider rebellion. This is the first time that Highmore has tackled an American accent, rebellion, and adventure all at once. It proved a bit much for him.
One major highlight of the film comes at the end, when the amazingly ugly and charming character Hogsqueal (played by Seth Rogen, of Knocked Up) manages to end the battle and save the world… quite accidentally. It is a fun ending to an otherwise disappointing movie.
