The Spiderwick Chronicles DVD Review

The Spiderwick Chronicles is one of the year’s most anticipated movies! Kidzworld reviews this fantastic DVD full of goblins and fairies!

Home Sweet Home

When their parents get a divorce, the Grace children, Jared , Simon, and Mallory, aren’t too excited about moving into their Great Aunt Lucinda’s old mansion. The floors are rotting, it’s dark and cold, and there’s also a strange scratching sound. After finding an odd nest inside the wall, Jared stumbles upon their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick’s study and his life’s work “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You.” Then he finds out what kind of creature they’re really dealing with.

A New Friend?

Thimbletack is the house Brownie, a little fairy creature who turns into the angry, mischievous Boggart after the kids messed up his house in the wall. As revenge he ties Mallory’s hair to the bed, freezes Simon’s tadpoles into ice cubes, and messes up the kitchen, all things that Jared, known for his acting out, gets blamed for. The Grace children eventually make peace with Thimbletack, but he warns Jared that the Field Guide is dangerous, and should be destroyed.

Kidnapped

Jared ignores Thimbletack’s warnings and continues to study the Field Guide. When Simon goes looking for Mr. Tibbs, his missing cat, he is kidnapped by a gang of goblins and their leader, the hideous ogre, Mulgarath, who will stop at nothing to get the Field Guide. Jared and Mallory must rescue Simon and protect the book without becoming ogre food because the fairy force field protecting Aunt Lucinda’s house can’t last forever. Plus, what are they supposed to tell their Mom when the goblins show up?

DVD Features

The Spiderwick Chronicles DVD comes in a Wide Screen, Full Screen, or two disc Field Guide Edition. The Two Disc Edition obviously has the most special features including It's a Spiderwick World and Spiderwick: It's All True which give some background and director commentary, and the interactive Field Guide which you can use while watching the movie. You'll also find Spiderwick: Meet the Clan which takes a look at the cast, and Making Spiderwick and The Magic of Spiderwick which look at the sets and special effects. Finally, a closing note from director Mark Waters in A Final Word of Advice. In addition to these featurettes are four deleted scenes, nine Nickelodeon spots, and two theatrical trailers. The extras aren't anything special, but there are a lot of them, so you might as well have them on your DVD right?

The Bottom Line

If you’re a fan of the Spiderwick Chronicles, you obviously have to see the movie. But even if you haven’t read the books, you’ll definitely be entertained. The movie is action packed and the special effects bring wild fairy creatures to life right in front of your eyes. The acting is good, Sarah Bolger plays Mallory and Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) plays both of the twins, which must have been a challenge. Nick Nolte is super scary as Mulgarath too. Speaking of scary, the movie is a little more violent than you might expect, and the creatures are definitely frightening enough to give younger kids nightmares, so make sure to remember that the fairy world doesn’t really exist. Or does it?

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