The Spiderwick Chronicles & Jumper

Only fair to warn you, I’m not a spoiler. You won’t get any details from me. Just my opinion on the movies. That’s all I want when I ask someone about a movie, so that’s all I give. If that’s all you’re looking for, you’re in luck.

We had the time and the money, so we decided to go see a couple of movies, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and “Jumper”. It was nice to get out of the truck for a while. The weather was even rather decent considering we’re in Tacoma, Washington. It’s cool out, but not freezing. Anyway, enough about the weather, on with the movies.

“The Spiderwick Chronicles” was the first movie we saw. If you’ve seen the movie “Arthur And The Invisibles” that’s what it reminded me of, only TSC was better. It has a more serious, real world feel to it. Reality dipped in fantasy, just the way I like it. Fantasy dipped in fantasy doesn’t always do it for me.

TSC has decent visuals and special effects. It has twists, turns, surprises, and decent characters. The story line was pretty good, but I think they could have done so much more with it. I think it being a “kid flick” they figure they don’t have to put too much effort into it.

It was a fun movie, but nothing too special. I heard a kid behind me say “it was ok” as he got up to leave at the end. That might be your hint to wait for this one to come out on DVD, or one of those other over priced disks they have now.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have a rating system. No stars, peppers, or thumbs here. Well, maybe some thumbs, sometimes. I either like em, or I don’t, is how it works here. It was an ok movie. My wife really liked it, but she’s an easy pleaser. I often times kid her that any movie staring a sock puppet will win her over. Anyway, it was a good movie. Worth watching, but not worth the cost of theater tickets.

Saving “Jumper” for last was definitely the way to go. Jumper tuned out to be a very good movie. It might not be for everyone (superhero, sci-fi/fantasy haters need not apply), but we both really liked it. The rest of the audience did too, which was evident by the spontaneous reactions to scenes throughout the movie. It was a fun roller-coaster ride.

The movie even ended well. It left you wondering, but not with a bad taste in your mouth. It wasn’t a cliffhanger, but they did leave it wide open for a sequel. I’d be willing to go see the sequel in a theater. The first was that good. I felt like I got my moneys worth.

The story, great, special effects, really cool, characters, interesting and captivating. If you have the time and the money, I say go check it out.

If interested, both of these movies were my “February Movie Picks” back in January. Here’s a link to that post.