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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Spiderwick Chronicles, The
Paramount Pictures


6.5

based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 35 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements

Starring Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright, David Strathairn, Seth Rogen, and Martin Short

From the beloved best-selling series of books comes The Spiderwick Chronicles, a fantasy adventure for the child in all of us. Peculiar things start to happen the moment the Grace family (Jared, his twin brother Simon, his sister Mallory, and their mom) leaves New York and moves into the secluded old house owned by their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames Jared. When he, Simon, and Mallory investigate what's really going on, they uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate, as well as the creatures that inhabit it. (Paramount Picture)

GENRE(S):	Adventure \| Drama \| Family/Kids \| Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	John Sayles
DIRECTED BY:	Mark Waters
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 24, 2008 Theatrical: February 14, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	97 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Director Mark Waters does a fine job meshing the fantastical with the quotidian.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A well-crafted family thriller that is truly scary and doesn't wimp out.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The film underscores the power of reading, and applying what we read to problem-solving. The story suggests that we don't really see the natural world around us, and if we did our lives, like Jared's and his siblings', would be immeasurably richer.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Not great fantasy, but it's on more solid ground than "The Golden Compass" and will seem less baffling to some. There's enough here to keep adults engaged, which is an important component of any motion picture that wants to be known as "family entertainment."

Chicago Tribune Tasha Robinson

A fast-moving adventure with more than dynamic glitz to recommend it.

San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand

A mostly superb cast, superior special effects, a sparkling musical score and a fantasy-filled plot .

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The movie is funny and scary and touching in all the ways the best children's pictures are, but it is also fast and compact, running a perfectly paced 93 minutes (including credits).

Time Richard Corliss

A decent entertainment -- not up there with the "Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings" sagas, but a notch above "The Golden Compass" and "Narnia."

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Meticulously rendered CGI creatures--from Arthur Rackham-esque flower sprites to a troll that could have sprung from "Jurassic Park"--spike this dark adventure, shot marvelously by Caleb Deschanel.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The children's real world, or what passes for real in a fantasy, could hardly be more inviting, for reasons that are hardly mysterious: the strong performances, under Mark Waters's accomplished direction; the smart, bright language, much of it taken from the books; the stylish cinematography, by Caleb Deschanel.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

The movie's richly autumnal look is by swift turns cozily naturalistic and terrifyingly baroque, and director Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls) sustains the balance between real and surreal with mischievous brio.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

An enjoyable adventure fantasy that pushes all the requisite buttons while still managing to throw in a pleasant surprise or two.

Variety Justin Chang

A work of both modest enchantment and enchanting modesty, grounded in a classically Spielbergian realm where childlike wonderment crosses paths with the tough realities of young adulthood.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Suffers slightly from that not-so-fresh feeling.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Spiderwick is set in the present, but goes for an overall design look of dainty, cozy, William Morris-y arts-andcraftiness.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Starts off promisingly by empathetically depicting the fear and anger children feel when their parents separate, but ultimately its human emotions are dominated by goblins, trolls, and other CGI-generated creatures running amok on the screen.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Anyone looking for handsomely presented, kid-friendly thrills need look no further.

Premiere Karl Rozemeyer

Perhaps Highmore could have tried a little harder to make us doubt for a moment that, once again, Good will inevitably overcome Evil.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

It's a good movie for its type, but it rarely stops to let us marvel at the world it creates.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

A world designed for children, and most of the grownups involved don't quite understand it - on or offscreen.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Unlike Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth," which was also inspired by Rackham, The Spiderwick Chronicles is more whimsical than scary.

USA Today Claudia Puig

We're supposed to be agog at the fantastical creatures and dazzling special effects. But the more wrenching story of disillusioned children nags in the background, distracting from any enchantment.

Film Threat Matthew Sorrento

Once “Spiderwick” gets to the fantasy, the story gets going.

Empire Sam Toy

A late entry in a crowded field, Spiderwick works hard to set itself apart from the competition, and almost entirely succeeds - no mean feat these days.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Maybe it's fantasy fatigue, but for all the pretty effects and breathless chases and goblin war battles, the sense of wonder and magic is lost in the shuffle.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The obvious product of a corporate search for the next great fantasy franchise, this adaptation of the first in a series of popular children's books by the writer-illustrator team of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi is a lump of leaden whimsy.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Spiderwick. There’s nothing wrong with it that passion and personality couldn’t fix.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Overrun with malicious goblins, a vengeance-minded pig, a fast-moving troll and a giant horned ogre, but the true source of terror is scarier than all of these combined: New York real estate prices.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

For the uninitiated? Man, it's a bummer.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Instead of the kind of inspired imaginative synergy that distinguished the “Lord of the Rings” and later “Harry Potter” pictures, this movie, directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”), feels more like a sloppy, secondhand pander.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Luis G. gave it a6:
Take the kids i enjoyed this darker blend of fantasy high on thematic elements so beware.... visually stunning... another spring treat.

Wendi gave it a10:
Love! Love! Love! Amazing movie.

Marcy T gave it a7:
2 parents and 2 teenagers all enjoyed it. None of us had read the books and we were able to follow the story. Engaging story. Visually interesting. Interesting kid characters. Nothing offensive. Lots of action and danger. Creepy and weird creatures. Pockets of humor. Worth seeing. (By the way, Ben C, Anthony C, and Celia C are the same person who just wanted to vote 0 three times. Check out the identical sentence structure with the flaw of sticking two sentences together with a comma).

Louis H gave it an8:
Not my favorite, but it is my kind of movie: a fantasy with great fx and very few boring scenes that still make the story work out. And for those of you who think this movie exposes "corruption" in the rating system...lighten up! This movie was not underrated, although if somebody in it stabbed somebody else just one more time, it probably would have been pg-13.

Steve gave it a3:
A lot of violence and blood for a kids movie, Also, the father figure is seen as a monster. Not a very friendly movie for kids under 10.

Dylan H. gave it a6:
It was a great movie with awesome special effects. But it didn't follow any of the books at all!

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
Just like Titanic spawned films like Pearl Harbor, The Lord of the Rings spawned films like The Golden Compass and The Spiderwick Chronicles. I enjoyed this movie and I believe that it'll be up there with Harry Potter and Pan's Labyrinth.

Spiderwick Chronicles, The Paramount Pictures

Spiderwick Chronicles, The
Paramount Pictures