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The Spiderwick Chronicles
Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
The movie keeps the general plot of the five-volume children's series — Jared Grace and his two siblings move into a new home and discover a mysterious book about nearby faeries and goblins. But characters' personalities are tweaked — hobgoblin Hogsqueal talks a lot less trash in the film — and major story lines are omitted (e.g., the abduction of Jared's sister by dwarves). Plus, most of the film's action takes place inside the family's house, not in the authors' fantastical woodlands.
Fidelity-o-meter: 2/5
— Kate Ward

Jumper
Steven Gould
In both the movie and the 1992 novel, a guy named David Rice has a girlfriend named Millie and an abusive father, plus the ability to teleport himself anywhere in the world. From there, the movie wisely leaps off on its own, inventing a whole new villain (Samuel L. Jackson), another teleporter (Jamie Bell), and a tighter plot. In the book, written pre-9/11, David ends up fighting airline-hijacking Islamic terrorists (!) and even drops one from the top of the World Trade Center (!!).
Fidelity-o-meter: 2/5
— Gregory Kirschling


Posted Feb 21, 2008 | Published in issue #980 Feb 29, 2008 | Order Article Reprints