The Spiderwick Chronicles started off strong, but with the first episode they set expectations too high. They lack the necessary depth in the first season. Sixteen years ago now, The Spiderwick Chronicles was made into a film. A film that was a great success, but was mainly aimed at a younger age. Roku has now adapted this children's book series written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi into a more adult urban fantasy film. A timeless story about mythical monsters and magic. While the script could certainly have been updated every now and then, the special effects were absolutely amazing.
The story follows the Grace family who want to make a new start in Henson. After some problems with Jared, he, his twin brother Simon and older sister Mallory move into their aunt's house with their mother Helen. The house is beautiful and fits perfectly into the picture. The mystery and magic is immediately palpable. Right at the beginning we are of course also introduced to the villain of the series, Mulgarath. A shape-shifting ogre that takes the form of the local psychiatrist, allowing him to get close to the family through Jared.
Where in the film the children were still young and full of imagination, here we see a complete shift towards the teenage years. Everyone is skeptical and believes less in Jared's fantasy stories, they have now grown out of that phase. While this makes the story more unbelievable for the magic and the quests they will make, it does give the makers the option to give the children heavier themes and shift the story towards horror instead of magic with fairies and elves.
In the entire season you mainly notice the absence of magic and fantasy. We sometimes see beautiful but mainly dark special effects with magical creatures, but for the most part the children are more concerned with a treasure hunt than a search for magic to save the city. The story also goes back and forth. The common thread is lost early in the season and could have contributed so much more to the story. Thimbletack should also have been given a better role looking at the books. Now he is portrayed as a crazy goblin who doesn't have everything sorted out, while in the story he was someone who gave direction to the children's adventures. Someone with all the knowledge about the field guide they are looking for.
The series started strong but with the first episode they set expectations too high. While beautiful special effects can be seen every now and then and a mainly horror-like representation of the mythical creatures, we lack the necessary depth in the storyline. While it shows the necessary themes that teenagers struggle with, the series lacks its original mystery, fantasy and youthful innocence that is necessary to make the story a success.
