User Reviews

The Bad: It's pretty bad, the writing is bad, most of the story is predictable, special effects are questionable and a ton of unnecessary forced dialogue.

The main (Spiderwick) characters are VERY unlikeable and don't stick out. They gave the teenagers no likeable traits!

Timbletack is also very ugly I don't know why his design is this bad.

The ending was bad!

The Good: The dialogue is laughably cringe which makes the show kind of funny.

The cast they chose to play the characters are quite good even though the writers butchered the characters with AWFUL dialogue.

Conclussion: Don't watch the show it isn't worth the 5 hours+ of watching just to see some bad CGI, cringe writing and way too many long forced dialogue for this to be 'enjoyable'. It's overall just a mediocre show.

8 epsiodes, 8 hrs to develope better than the orginal that was well done in 90 min. When you cannot tell a solid story in 8 hrs with the foundation already laid out, time to call it quits. And do we need to throw in every issue of todays world and make the main character another villain. Cause that is what Jared was. Far too much emphasis in mebtal health. We get it. And the towns people reaction after what happebed to them! Really? Why did we hardly see thimbletack? And his design was horrible as well as the rest of the CGI? Roku if you are reading this, no season 2 unless you switch writers and spend some xtra money on the effects and the fairy world we are all looking forward to. Too.

Everyone who played a teenager were super annoying, especially the ones that played the twins and the sister. Show reminds me a bit of Grimm, but Grimm was better. I can see why Disney passed up on this show. If theres a Season 2, i'd be surprised. Christian Slater was good as a baddie, but needed more witches of eastwick jack nicholson type acting.

The acting was all over the place. The plot holes also all over the place. I also felt these kids kept repeating themselves in every episode. I watched the show only cause i was already invested. We'll see. I gave it a 6 out of 10 cause there were moments that caught my attention.

Im sick and tired of remakes and all that bull First you cant tell me it's good when Ive seen the original movie and read the books STOP RUINING CHILDHOOD THINGS Let alone no offense but this whole culture appropriation thing It's clear in the stories they're not people of color Dont get me wrong its not that I have a problem with it its more so it feels like they're not appreciated don't make remakes and make a whole new movie something that is not some sloppy second's remake Its like these writers dont have the time of day to give people of color there own movie something fresh something new.

Just finished reading the books with my kids. We were so excited for this series. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it through the first episode. Completely different characters/ personalities and storyline. Even my 7 year old was frustrated with it.

Not only did they make unnecessary changes, but they also shoehorned in political interjections that added nothing to the narrative. It felt forced and out of place, turning what should have been a fun and innocent story into a platform for their own agenda.

Overall, I would not recommend this movie to fans of the books. It's a disrespectful adaptation that fails to capture the magic of the original stories.

How can anyone give this a rating of 1/2? OK it is nothing like the book or film but nonetheless it is an enjoyable watch.

Very good production, acting and special effects.

When I see 1 or 10 ratings on here I just ignore them. One actually admits they didn't finish the first episode then puts they don't recommend this movie, duh! Another has watched all the episodes in 2 days then rates it 1. Why would you watch it all if it's that bad?

There is too much of ticking all the social, racial and gender boxes but that's the same with almost every production these days.

Take it for what it is and enjoy.

The original book is my favorite fantasy story ever, it is full of wonderful creatures and was made to make people dream. It was the book that made me like fantasy and I got so excited to see more creatures than we saw on the movie. I expected to see a lot more since the série format would allow to explore the universe a lot more than in the movie. Well let's just say I was soooo disappointed, I wondered during the whole show when we would see hobgoblins, elves or mermaids... the only fit scene was the unicorns one. Wanted to see a show about fantasy, got a show one mental health played by annoying people.

1. First review - Watched the trailer, very interested, couldn't wait for the start.

Within the first 15 minutes of Episode 1 there were 3 slight undertones, Political, Ethnic and skepticism of Whites. Will I continue to watch, yes, the show really looks good, but, if it continues to go along those lines then I will stop.

I don't watch shows to hear about all the negative that is going on in this world. I watch shows to get away from it and just plain old enjoy a show.

As I said the show is really enjoyable, it's a Fantasy/SyFy so I hope it stays away from the negatives of this world. Watch it and enjoy and hope it stays away from reality.

2nd- Review - watched all 8 episodes and I found it very entertaining. Yes their were a couple inuendoes but nothing shoved in your face.

I couldn't wait till the next episode and wanted to watch more, now I have to wait till the next season.

I haven't read any of the Spiderwick books but I did see the Spiderwick movie from years ago, and I found this one different but very good.

I see it as a cross between Lock & Key and Stranger Things (Netflix). I watched with the sole idea of just something to enjoy and not expect a major masterpiece. Yes silly at times, yes the actors are not all ready for an Oscar, but, it was still worth watching without all the expectations of a Major TV explosion. Fantasy, SyFy, fun, interesting, family watchable. I enjoyed it and thought I should give it a better review, I say a 9 because Nothing is ever worth a 10. Watch and don't be so hard on this series and I hope there is another season.

I really liked the series, and having seen the Freddie Highmore movie, was much happier with the Series production.

Adequately age appropriate, Spiderwick is definitely for viewers in the Tweens and Teens age group, but it is enjoyable for adults. The actors portraying Mallory, Simon and Jared do a great job in their respective roles, well enough that I was engaged in watching the series in its entirety, without having the urge to just stop and go to something else.

Christian Slater is wickedly good in his role, and flawlessly moves from good to wicked and back again without a mis-step. This is one show I will be recommending to my Tween Nephews for sure. Finding well written, produced, and acted fantasy series that allows viewers to remove their "grasp on reality" and believe in things that as magical and fantastical is difficult. Most fall flat and come off extremely cheesy and just . . .bad. This Spiderwick series does dip it's toe in the cheesiness, but not so much that it becomes even slightly intolerable.

I think this is at least 3rd series in a row for me, that has nothing but aesthetics. The other recent ones were Fallout and Ripley. As with them, I can't say anything bad about the aesthetics and general style: it does look like what I would expect from a fairy tale. But the essence of the fairy tale does include the "tale" part.

It's just boring. Completely unremarkable, with quite a few moments ruined by telling things, rather then showing them. For example, pretty early in the show there is this moment, where Ogre (or whatever he really is) is trying to manage his temptation to eat a human. Most of the scene it's the girl (whoever she is) literally saying "Are you not hungry?". A good narrative would show a trembling hand trying to reach out to doorknob, but stopping (o being stopped by the other hand), or showing some more emotions, including hunger, on the face of the character (licking lips, salivating, clenching the jaw).

But alas, we have another case where book is transferred to screen in a literal manner, forgetting the whole point of such an adaptation. In a book you have to spell everything out, because you can't show things, since you can only rely on text and reader's imagination, which is dependent on how much details you provide. But on screen, you can not only tell things (which uses hearing), but also show things (which uses eyes - the main consumer of TV shows). Why modern shows has forgotten the art of visual story-telling is beyond me.

I always feel that people who rate 10s and 1s have an agenda. Theres no way they could have watched this show and rated it honestly. Its a pretty decent fantasy series with good acting performances all round. Special effects are pretty decent and the story moves along at a pretty decent pace. It may not exactly follow the bok or the movie but it dosnt take anything away from the entertainment value. My only gripe and its a small one at that is that the children are a a bit to old, having said that it dosnt take anything away from the show. Christian slater is great in a role that was made for him. Its well orth a watch if you give it a chance.

This is actually my first review on here. Let me get to the point this show is NOT a page for page adaptation of the book series. However it is more a fresh take on the universe that is Spiderwick. Let me just say that if you are hoping for something better than what got in 2008 this is it! Thought if you are looking for a true adaptation of the books this is not it. I for one got into reading with these books! I love the Spiderwick chronicles and recommend them to anyone with kids who haven't yet found a joy for reading. With that said this mini series was not what I expected but in a good way! It isn't groundbreaking tv or anything but I watched it all on a rainy day and didn't feel as if I wasted my time. The show has key elements and characters in it but with a more modern and teen/ family theme. At first I was rolling my eyes ready to be disappointed and ready to comfort my inner child but once you realize what the show is instead of what you thought it was it gets better. It is a show in which we are taken into the spiderwick universe as I mentioned and so this means that all the mythological creatures are real. It made me think of supernatural and vampire diaries in that regard but with taste of Disney/ marvel tone to the characters (probably why Disney was going to take on the project). Basically this is a series is like if the world of Harry Potter was being discovered by muggles instead of witches and wizards. So the book fan can say "ooooh I understand the reference!" And "oh I know what it is!" While not taking away from the viewer who doesn't know spiderwick lore. It pays homage to the original while keeping itself original. If Spider-Man homecoming mixed with supernatural mixed with vampire diaries mixed with Stephen King-ish vibes is your thing then you will probably enjoy this. If you are a staunch book fan who needs your adaptation to be page by page word for word you might want to skip this one. Over all not a bad run. In conclusion it is its own thing that if you are a fan of the lore and universe of spiderwick you should check out otherwise don't watch it.

The trailer hook me, or should I say deceived me, because I was genuinely looking forward for this series. So when April 19 finally arrived, someone slapped me with a pie on my face.

The positive first, I thought the production looked good, I'm not gonna lie, and the CGI was very decent. And the acting was fair. Okay, that where it ends.

Okay, the negative. Oh boy, it was way too much talking for me. They just went on and on, and I am wondering where are my magical creatures? Well, they show up, but for a few minute towards the end of each episodes and then roll credit. Since they talked so much, I had to fast forward just to get to the creatures or magical moments that barely last.

The last episode was lackluster. All I am going to say is for a supposed powerful monster, he ain't all that.

The movie is 100x better than this, even the ending was more satisfying because A) They didn't talk too much and B) It took common sense/cleverness to defeat Mulgarath.

The ONE & ONLY redeeming aspect of this entire fiasco is Christian Slater's devastating performance, worthy of a real cast, crew, writers, producers and directors. If the last episode would have shown us that there was science fiction involved, and Slater had been transported into a D-list production from an A-list one, THAT would have felt far more believable. OK, actually, the actress who played Lucinda was pretty charming, as well, so who's to say how she might have done with adult-written dialog? The remaining cast could have been good; it's hard to say - the material they had to work with was so atrocious, repetitive and grating, it is almost impossible to watch. I did watch the whole thing - and, unfortunately, there is zero character development. So a character who says an annoying thing in the first episode will continue to spout the same time of thing throughout all of the whole 8 episodes - bar none. There's no relief from a gorgeous CGI fairy world, bc the producers largely felt it wasn't needed in this production. So you have Slater, the actress who played Lucinda, portaled into the worst television fantasy series to have been produced in decades. Watch the 2008 film or Willow or House of the Dragon or pretty much ANYTHING else, bc this is a dumpster fire.

I'm disappointed with this work, the original idea has been ruined and presented very poorly. The story was described as dark, but I did not feel the expected dark atmosphere. The production looks cheap, and the teens' performances are very weak, they don't show any real expressions or reactions that make us relate to their emotions. We also didn't see any magical creatures, perhaps due to the low budget.

I strongly advise anyone who is interested in the story of "Spiderwick" or the old Nickelodeon movie, not to watch this poor and cheap series. It will make you sad and disappointed...........

For the most part it's an enjoyable romp through the mythology that the spiderwick Chronicles created. But then it decides to take a turn toward an agenda that is pushing the story of mental health and post to do with people that have emotional problems. Which is a great topic and absolutely one that should be addressed, but not one that this particular series was focused on.

The music was well picked, the actors were chosen very well. And for the most part you're going to like even the smallest of characters. But the idea that this story has anything to do with this source material is completely lacking.

We hadn't read the story, so we had no expectations going in and nothing to compare. Kids 9, 11,12 loved it and are hoping season 2 comes out! We couldn't stop watching it. Watched the whole series in one day. We loved the characters and the magical set and CGI. Kept us all on the edge of our seats with cliffhangers and twists and turns. Just the right amount of dark/scary, magic/real-life struggle to keep everyone interested. I appreciated that it actually addressed some pretty tough issues and relationships. There was the exciting magical storyline on top of the very real storyline of the struggle of Jared and his relationship with his family and friends.

This is great. I am not a silly person who believes my favorite books and games MUST be depicted exactly as designed in those OTHER formats. This is an ongoing series - it can't limit itself to ONLY what was written in the books. I also am sick and tired of all the white people complaining about it because it is a black family. Some are very clear about that while others - being a white person I know how they do it - hide their hatred of using black people with subtlety in their reviews. Plus Christian Slater is great, I've missed him. There is also the problem that this is on a Roku channel which I've never used, having always had other streaming sources. But you can watch it free at their website. Go for it. I'm having lots of fun with it.

This series does not compare to the 2008 film. If you are expecting a fantasy show filled with faeries and creatures, you'll be disappointed. The creatures we do see spend majority of their time in human form or invisible. It feels more like a teen drama than any sort of fantasy adventure. I can count on one hand how many creatures we saw, and all were fleeting.

This series introduces two boys, Jared (Lyon Daniels) and his brother Simon (Noah Cottrell), who are opposites of each other. Jared is rebellious and gets into trouble, while Simon does what he is told. The premise is the Grace family moves to Michigan to take Jared to the same doctor who is treating their aunt, worried that Jared might be going down the same path as "crazy Aunt Lucinda" (even though there has been apparently no progress for her in the last 40 years). Unfortunately for them, Mulgarath, played by Christian Slater, assumes the doctor's identity. Together with his sidekick Calliope (Alyvia Alyn Lind), seek to bring death to the entire town of Henson, MI and beyond.

Christian Slater really carries this entire series on his back. His performance was great and reminded me a bit of Mr. Robot. The other characters feel awkward and unnatural at times, or downright inconsistent. The fantasy elements also seem inconsistent or changing to fit the narrative. For example, Calliope can shape shift.. but sometimes she knows who and sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes it's a perfect copy and other times it's not. This doesn't make sense with the lore given to the character.

Throughout the series, the entire cast attempts to convince Jared he is crazy and creatures are not real. This is despite each of them witnessing creatures themselves multiple times. It also feels there are no consequences for any of their actions. They either forget in the next scene or push it under the rug and not mention it again. Except for in flashbacks, which felt unnecessary and disjointed. The whole series probably could have been avoided if the Grace family actually listened to each other instead of always being terrible. I know some of this are aspects of their characters, but this dialed it up to 11. Sometimes the characters want to help Jared defeat Mulgarath, other times they don't believe anything Jared says. This back and forth was frustrating for the viewer because none of the characters had any consistency.

The anticlimactic ending to this series sums up how I felt during each episode, always anticipating something exciting to happen only to be met with more monotony.

There is also the issue of the not-so-subtle propaganda and messages throughout the series. The great Mulgarath wants to destroy the town because of... single use plastics? The "return to nature" fallacy seemed flimsy at best and broke the immersion whenever they started talking of their environmental goals.

Ultimately I feel this series missed its mark. Spiderwick is great because of all the fantasy and creatures and lore within the Spiderwick field guide. In this series we get a couple of pages and use them for comedic moments. This didn't even scratch the surface of the Spiderwick universe and felt more like family drama. Hopefully any future seasons will pivot to focus much more heavily on the fantasy aspect.

Overall, this is a fun, aged up take on the original books-it expands a lot on the original stories, in new, interesting ways. The kids' actors do a good job, despite a slightly milquetoast first 20 minutes of sibling cooperation (fortunately this soon breaks down and the kids bicker as they did in the books, with a little extra on top).

For fans of the books, you might have some complaints - most importantly, aging up Jared, Simon, and Mallory. The kids also seem to have a better relationship with each other-except the troubled Jared. Personally, I think aging up the kids makes the show a little more adult and a little less wondrous, which is the biggest change.

But, as a fan of the books, this is fun, and a nice take on the general premise of the books.

The enemies have a reasonable fairy motivation, the subplots for Mallory and Jared are interesting (and rather necessary to make a kids book into a TV show), and the cast is believable once they settle in.

I'll go ahead and say Lucinda is my favorite character.

Apparently this show was made for Disney+ before ending up on the Roku Channel app for free.

This was a fun show worth watching for kids and adults. It reminded me of a mixture of the Fantastic Beasts movies and the Locke & Key TV series/books.

I loved seeing Christain Slater and thought he was a fantastic villain for this kind of show. The rest of the cast was good too and I didn't find myself hating any of the characters for being too dumb or annoying.

I typically only watch shows that have a minimum IMDB rating of 7 stars. For me, 7 stars is the threshold for a good show and Spiderwick Chronicles was lighthearted fun that I enjoyed.

Made it through only the first episode and too many dumb things that made no sense. If they thought that it would be funny it really wasn't. The characters come across as forced and the children just acted too uneducated to be real people. The stereotypes that they portrayed were so transparent that again came across as too hard to believe that they could be real people.

Was so hoping that this would be fantastical like the movie and was really just disappointed. Will try to watch the second episode and if it gets better I'll come back and change this review but if it's the same then steer away from this.

This is a failure, sadly. It didn't bring anything, compare to the 2008 movie. I had hopes for it but it's hard to follow the story at all. They are all bipolar characters with the cliche lines. It fails as a fantasy and it fails in the story.

They are over acted and emotionally dead. Not well-thought of. The writing is not much of a help either. It's just a mess. I expected to be transported to a magical world, but they made it too dark, too dramatic for no reason at all. All the characters seems angry all the time. It's making me rewatch the 2008 movie, and appreciate it more. I hope they improve it.