Not recommended under 8, PG to 13 (Violence and scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 8 -12 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 13 and over | OK for this group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Spiderwick Chronicles, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild fantasy violence, Some scenes may frighten young children |
Length: | 96 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The Spiderwick Chronicles opens in a dark
laboratory-like room full of insects. Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) is
writing in an old book and is quite obviously frightened.
Eighty years later, a mother (Mary-Louise Parker) and three children
arrive at the old house. Mallory (Sarah Bolger), Simon and Jared (twins both
played by Freddie Highmore) are not at all happy to be there as they have had
to leave their home in New York but it is Jared who seems the angriest. He
won’t talk and fights constantly.
When they arrive they find salt on the window sills and the house has strange noises. They find that things go missing and Jared is blamed. Eventually, while trying to find the source of the noises, Jared finds Arthur Spiderwick’s room and in it is the old book written by Arthur Spiderwick called The Spiderwick Chronicles. Although there is dire warning at the start of the book that it should not be read, he reads it anyway.
The book contains secrets about magical and mythical beings and, by reading it, Jared sets off a chain of events that brings out goblins and the ogre, Mulgarath (Nick Nolte). Mulgarath is determined to get the book because it will enable him to become so powerful that he will rule the earth. Jared needs to find a way to defeat the ogre and keep his family, and the world, safe.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
The supernatural; family conflict; separation from a parent
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
Much of the violence in this film is not between people but there are a number of scenes of violent attacks on the family by mythical creatures and retaliation by the family. Some examples are:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, particularly those involving computer generated images of fantasy characters. Examples include:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this group are also likely to be scared by the above-mentioned scenes
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Younger children in this age group may also be scared by some of the above-mentioned scenes
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing of concern
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
None of concern
None of concern
None of concern
Some mild coase language and putdowns.
The Spiderwick Chronicles is a fantasy adventure featuring computer generated images of creatures such as goblins and ogres.
The movie’s main message is that you should think before you act and speak, making sure that you do not judge a situation or lay blame until you know the whole story
Values that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents may also wish to discuss the children’s separation from their father and Jared’s reaction to it.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531