It conjures a world of fanciful creatures some benign, others hostile and introduces into it a group of squabbling human siblings (played by Sarah Bolger and Freddie Highmore) who have moved into a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, along with their newly divorced mother, Helen (Mary-Louise Parker).Ī previous resident of the house was one Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn), a scholar of the invisible world of sprites and goblins and the author of an encyclopedic reference book on their ways. 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 Spiderwick Chronicles,” adapted from books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, represents the latest such effort. Bookstore shelves are full of spells and sorcery, and so, these days, are multiplexes, as filmmakers take advantage of special-effects technology to bring literary enchantments to life. Every devoted reader of children’s literature knows that magic is difficult for the young wizards who practice it, of course, but even more so for their would-be creators, who must compete in an ever more crowded field.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |