The Spiderwick Chronicles.

The Spiderwick Chronicles.



excellent movie. it's been ages since i've seen a world that captured the imagination like this.. be it in books or movies. granted, i have a penchant for worlds like this - but this film truly brings the world of Spiderwick across.

to save everyone's time, you can read a synopsis of the film here. SPOILER ALERT.

the lead character, Jared grace, is played by none other than Freddie Highmore..

and so is Jared Grace's twin brother, Simon Grace.

the acting is seamless - i didn't know both boys were played by the same actor until i read the wikipedia entry again. this is truly movie magic at its best.

Freddie Highmore manages to act rough and tough as Jared and a goody-two-shoes as Simon both at once - which is amazing considering they can both be onscreen at the same time. his acting brings the two roles he plays together so smoothly that the interaction is almost flawless.



the camerawork was good - what more can you expect from a film with a budget of $100 million? the CGI is delicious - one can almost feel the world come alive despite the fact that it was filmed almost entirely on blue screen. my only complaint is that some of the creatures look too.. animated. but only some. the rest were wonderful.


i can't comment on the story - it's an adaptation from the book series after all. despite a few mentioned discrepancies, i enjoyed the movie from start to finish. the only concern comes at the start - when a whole lot of mumbo jumbo and internal lingo is flung at the viewer.
it may be a bit hard to digest for the general populace who might not be as exposed to these terms and names as people like me.. but one gets used to it after a while.




The Spiderwick Chronicles is a film well worth watching - its good, clean entertainment (notoriously hard to find these days) and almost a perfect modern fairytale - much like the folklore and tales of old.








has one ever felt that sense of loss when one finishes a book; closes the last page and seals the story away?
the characters that one has felt a kinship with from page one to the end are gone forever, and your friendship with them lost?
sure, they would always be there, but the magic of the first reading is now gone; the story no longer a new journey but a vague journey back into blurry memories.

it's amazing how books can stir up so much emotion.


and speaking of emotion, one comes to the topic of friends.
they can be likened to apples in a basket. one happily trots along one's path of life with these apples in hand. however, life slowly but surely takes its toll.

some apples decide they need a breather; they roll out of the basket into new land. some do return, but some don't.

some apples feel they need to move on to greener pastures (in this case more fertile areas), and so they tumble out to find their own little spot where they can grow and flourish.

some apples go bad from the inside; nothing changes on the outside, but when one reaches in, the awful smell and mushy flesh give the game away.

inadvertantly, the apples will go one by one - until one is left with nothing but an empty basket.




how empty is yours?