What is the story about?
The Spiderwick Chronicles tells the tale of the Graces, a family who
must adapt to their new strange surroundings. As the story begins, twin
brothers Jared and Simon, along with their sister Mallory and their
mother Helen, move away from the big city to a mansion owned by their great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick because of the recent divorce of the parents. While the family are excited , Jared hates the move and he always assures Simon that their dad will coming for them. gUnable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames Jared . Soon after, Jared meets a brownie named Thimbletack (
Martin Short),
who explains that magical creatures are normally invisible, but can
reveal themselves at will. He tells Jared about a protective circle that
Arthur Spiderwick placed around the house and gives him a stone with a
hole through which he can see faeries.However, a
shape-shifting ogre named Mulgarath (
Nick Nolte)
wants the field guide for himself so he can rule over all faerie-kind.
He sends his goblins led by Redcap the Pompous Goblin General, to obtain
it, and they kidnap Simon, mistaking him for Jared. Meanwhile, Jared
meets Hogsqueal (
Seth Rogen), a
hobgoblin
and bitter enemy of Mulgarath. Hogsqueal gives Jared the ability to see
faeries without the aid of the stone. Mulgarath lets Simon go and
berates Redcap for failing his master. But soon Jared, who is hiding, is
spotted by the goblins. Together, the twins flee to the house, managing
to escape only with Mallory's help.The children decide to visit their great-aunt Lucinda, now in a
psychiatric hospital,
for advice. While Simon distracts the goblins, Mallory and Jared manage
to reach a tunnel under the estate. Lucinda tells them that they need
to find Arthur Spiderwick and have him destroy the book; however, Arthur
is being held captive by
Sylphs,
a type of faerie. Suddenly, Mulgarath's goblins attack them and steal
several pages from the book before they are driven off. Meanwhile in the
woods, Mulgarath berates Redcap violently for not bringing all of the
book, but he is pleased by having a page that allows Mulgarth to break
the protective circle by moonrise. Mulgarath and Redcap prepare the
potion for the upcoming night. Meanwhile on the children's return,
Hogsqueal warns them that one of the stolen pages will allow Mulgarath
to destroy the protective circle when the moon rises.Jared and Simon, along with Mallory use the book to summon Arthur Spiderwick's pet, a
griffin,
which takes them to the realm of the Sylphs. There they meet Arthur,
who has not aged but is also unaware of the time he has spent there.
After returning home again, Jared, Simon, Mallory, and Helen arm
themselves with steel knives and home-made bombs prepared by Simon. When
they are forced into the kitchen, they place all of their bombs into
the oven, detonating them and killing all of the goblins and Redcap.Mr. Grace (
Andrew McCarthy)
enters the house and tells Jared that he came to apologize. Jared,
realizing that it is not his father, stabs him in the stomach, revealing
him to be Mulgarath in disguise. Jared escapes with the book through
the dumbwaiter while Mulgarath gives pursuit. On the roof, Jared throws
the book onto the lawn; as Mulgarath transforms into a raven to catch
it, he is snatched and eaten by Hogsqueal.The Graces bring Lucinda back to the house, and the Sylphs appear,
bringing Arthur. He cannot remain outside of the faerie realm, but
Lucinda asks to be taken with him instead; the Sylphs transform her back
into her six-year-old self and spirit the two away.
