Film: The Spiderwick Chronicles

I actually had a pang of regret when the opening credits rolled for this film. Why was I here watching yet another CGI laden fantasy LOTR/Harry Potter wannabe? It wouldn't be anything but shallow and disappointing. If I wasn't nodding off to sleep for the first five minutes I probably would have gotten up and watched another film.

I'm glad I didn't though. It didn't take long to warm up to Spiderwick and before I knew it I was being sucked into a universe of goblins and fairies - just like the three children of the movie were.

The main asset of the film was its simplicity. With such a straightforward and easy going plot, a throwback to the good-versus-bad all good stories once had, everything else just fell into place; both the direction and acting were made to look easy. It's perfectly weighted too; at just over 90 minutes it gets the pace just right and I didn't really have a chance to get bored.

Anyway it's probably obvious that I liked this film. With so little to complain about I can't but recommend Spiderwick.