Spiderwick Chronicles: Great Family Adventure with Short Goblins

"You don't see us,

now you do,

but only if

we want you to."

This rhyme, spoken by the rhyming Thimbletack, explains the creatures beneath us in The Spiderwick Chronicles. This film is a prime example of how to tie a family drama with fantasy adventure without creating completely seperate worlds (such as the overdrawn special effects in Bridge to Terabithia). It has adventure, great moments of horror, a close story of family, and great acting, casting, and special effects.

Spiderwick Chronicles follows the Grace family as they move into their great-grandfather's abandoned house while the mother and father go through a divorce. Mary-Louise Parker plays Helen Grace, the mother with too much to handle with her three children. The children are rebelious Jared Grace, his twin brother, the smart pacifist Simon (both are played by August Rush's Freddie Highmore), and the confident sister Mallory Grace (Sarah Bolger), who always carries her fencing swords.

The house is in the middle of the woods. Jared finds a book written by his great-grandfather, Authur Spiderwick (Bourne Ultimatum's David Strathairn) as a field guide to the mystical world of fairies, goblins, griffins, and other creatures hidden from us. Of course no one believes young Jared when he opens the book and mystical creatures come to steal the book and its secrets from him. Nick Nolte makes a worthy appearance as the human form of the shape-shifting orge Mulgarath, who seeks the book so he may destroy the fairy world. To aid Jared and his family is Thimbletack, the miniture guardian of the book with a soft-spot for honey, wonderfully voiced by Martin Short. Seth Rogen (Knocked Up) plays the disgusting, cheerful Hogsqueal who helps the Grace's see the otherwise invisible creatures by spiting in their faces.

The movies mysticism is part of the fun. Goblins are small creatures that stay low to the ground, looking like walking frogs with sharp teeth. They make for cruel creatures, but invisible, they look like leaves blown by the wind. Thimbletack is funny when appeased with honey, but green and small when upset, making for a humorous guardian. Hogsqueal is fun in personality, as he has a taste for birds and dreams of eating the griffin Jared Grace summons. Their humor works in ways only Short and Rogen can deliver. Nolte's monster is cruel and has more than one moment to send chills in a nightmare way, which as a horror fan, I like to see moments like these in family movies. NOTE: THIS IS A FAMILY MOVIE, NOT A KID'S MOVIE. Anyone under 9 should probably have someone there to cover their eyes as there are moments children won't want to see.

The beauty of the script is it focuses on no one aspect of any genre. The horror is spread out, the fantasy world is part of the thrills of being surrounded by goblins, and it carefully alternates and ties in with the family drama so it doesn't seem like it is merely one kind of a movie wishing it was another, but a careful blend. The characters, from family members to creatures, all of personality. Aside from the animated voices, minor characters such as Strathiam as Spiderwick and Joan Plowright as the children's Grandaunt Lucina (Spiderwick's daughter) take the role seriously, are important to the plot, and never seem go too far.

Is it entertaining? I didn't like Lord of the Rings for most of its movies or Bridge to Terabithia, but this movie is fun in its fantasy and imagination.

Is it for everyone? Yes. Adults and little ones will like it, although some will need to have their eyes covered at times.

Is it memorable? Yes. Doing well in various areas makes this more than a notch above the rest and an all around well-developed movie. The imagination of the story will not let you walk through the woods the same again.

My suggestion: Grab a date or family member as this is the best movie available for February and early March.