Spiderwick Chronicles, The

MPAA Rating: PG

Entertainment: +3

Content: +2

Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Sarah Bolger, with Joan Plowright and David Strathairn and the voices of Seth Rogen and Martin Short. Kids' fantasy. Based on the books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick, David Berenbaum, John Sayles. Directed by Mark Waters.

FILM SYNOPSIS: 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, sister Mallory and their mom) leave New York and move 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 and the creatures that inhabit it.

PREVIEW REVIEW: Imagination stirring and action packed, Spiderwick Chronicles is for adolescents the stuff that dreams are made of. And, if you look beyond the maniacal hobgoblins and ogres, the magical griffins and trolls, and the dainty fairies and sprites, youll find a life lesson or two. The kids battle the villainous creatures of the forest using their wits and anything else they can muster to cause the green-blooded ghouls to go splat. The girl even gets to do battle with a sword shes pretty good, too. Its energetic, fast-paced and imaginative. But beware; it is a bit frightening for very little ones. The leads are in near constant danger, only steps ahead of their evil-looking tormentors. One child behind me, maybe 4 years old, asked his daddy to take him home. I wanted to beat the father for not taking the little guy out of the theater. But maybe he was right. The dad wanted his son to face his fears and that was the very theme of the movie. Still

This film has been rated PG for scary creature action and violence, peril and some thematic elements.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: None

Obscene Language: The villainous ogre starts to use the s-word just before he meets his demise.

Profanity: Several times the expression oh my God, or variations of that phrase are uttered by the teen leads. Thats the nearest anyone comes to praying.

Violence: Its all comic book-like, but there is an endless parade of nerve-tingling battles between the youngsters and evil creatures; constant peril; the boys are scratched by the creatures, as is the sister while she defends herself with a sword; a child stabs a man, but it is an evil creature in disguise. Blood: We see green goo coming from wounded magical beings.

Sex: None

Nudity: None

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: None

Drugs: None

Other: The parents are divorced, the father now living with someone else.

Running Time: 90 minutes
Intended Audience: Kids eight and up.

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