For all of their magic, recent fantasy films have seemed anything but magical. It’s shocking how few of these movies know how to develop a genuine sense of wonder. It’s all about context. Take The Golden Compass. You show me a world where the sky is filled with ornate airships and shape-shifting animals walk beside every citizen, and then you reveal a talking armored polar bear, and I say, “So what?” There’s nothing wondrous about that in a world like this. It seems as common to me as it does to the film’s equally less-than-impressed characters.
But show me a world with cell phones, single moms and SUVs and then reveal that every dandelion seed has a hidden mystical creature in it, and I’m as amazed as the film’s hero, who was just listening to his iPod. The Spiderwick Chronicles never feels slow, but it is very deliberate in its pacing, and only gradually shows us the hidden magic in the mundane world we all know. It’s very clever in revealing mystical qualities in commonplace things. Who knew that there were magical uses for tomato sauce and honey? And not just any honey, but the kind you squeeze from those universally recognized plastic bears.
Truth be told, the special effects aren’t even that convincing. The trolls and goblins look cool, but they also look very digital. But I completely forgave this technicality because the film made me anxious to see what kind of interesting creature I’d find in the next dumbwaiter or flower garden, whether it looked entirely convincing or not. And by the time the epic battle between the movie’s child heroes and the evil Mulgarath finally takes place, the spectacular images involved seem truly spectacular.
This is also the first fantasy movie I’ve seen in a long time that didn’t set itself up for a sequel (or trilogy), and it’s the first one in a long time that I kind of wish had.
The Spiderwick Chronicles
****
Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker
Directed by Mark Waters
Rated PG
Now playing