The creatures that inhabit the gardens, forests and valleys of the Spiderwick universe — from the Long John Silver-like leader of the goblin riff-raff to the delicate and ephemeral gossamer-winged faeries that whisked Great Uncle Spiderwick away eighty years before — are beautifully rendered. However, the aesthetics of the film that hark back to pre-Raphaelite Victorian England seem incongruous with the nearby American small town, Jared's iPod, and the family's SUV. And despite being a carefully crafted film with a well-paced plotline, there is something oddly amiss in this otherwise robust children's film. And, most surprisingly, it is the performance of Freddie Highmore that seems to be lacking an extra dash of faerie dust. Highmore, who has become the go-to boy actor necessary for making hearts burst and eyes well (see Finding Neverland), delivers solid performances as both twin brothers. Not since Lindsay Lohan did double duty as twin sisters in 1998's The Parent Trap has a young actor managed to successfully nuance two contrasting sibling personalities in the same film. As both the willful and adventurous tousle-haired Jared constantly sparring with his more buttoned-down brother Simon, Highmore is emotionally engaging, especially when he finally accepts that his father will not be returning and that he needs the love of his mother. But, as Mulgarath (who at the height of his fury seems like a horrifying flesh-and-blood amalgamation of Blake's Ghost of a Flea and Southpark's Satan) descends on the house and all Hell breaks lose, Highmore seems harried…but not terrified for his life. Yes, the film covers familiar ground. Yes, once again, we watch as our protagonist reads a secret tome, flies on the back of a powerful winged dragon-like monster, vanquishes his enemies by deciphering a magical substance (in this case it's tomato sauce). But perhaps Highmore could have tried a little harder to make us doubt for a moment that, once again, Good will inevitably overcome Evil.

— Karl Rozemeyer