I loved the books for The Chronicles of Narnia, I loved the BBC TV adaptation, so there was no way I could not go to the cinema and watch this when it came out. It's definitely aimed more at the children, but I think it's a family film that all ages will enjoy, especially those who have liked Narnia in its earlier incarnations.
I found the story entertaining, the acting excellent (especially considering the age of two of the lead actors) and the effects brilliant. There were a couple of changes from the book, but on the whole I think they worked.
~~~ The Plot ~~~ The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is set during the Second World War. Four children, Peter Edmund, Susan and Lucy are evacuated to a large house in the country owned by a Professor Kirk. While playing hide and seek Lucy hides in an old wardrobe. Suddenly, she finds herself in the magical land of Narnia and meets a fawn called Mr Tumnus.
It turns out that Narnia is ruled by an evil witch who makes it always winter, but never Christmas. Mr Tumnus chooses to betray the White Witch and send Lucy back home, even though it might cost him his own life.
Though the others don't believe Lucy about the wardrobe, they eventually find their way through to Narnia as well to learn that Mr Tumnus has been captured by the witch's secret police. They are helped by Mr and Mrs Beaver, talking beavers who unfortunately look like people wrapped in brown carpet, and told that Aslan, the true king of Narnia, has returned.
They go to join forces with Aslan and help him to overthrow the White Witch. However, before they can go to him, they are betrayed by someone very close to them...
There are a couple of changes to the plot from the book, but I think they tended to work.
There is a sequence crossing the rapidly melting ice over a river, with wolves on their trail which adds significantly to the tension, though I think Narnia must be magical enough to be free from frostbite.
The movie has a sequence with the children in London, which I think is a nice way of establishing them as a family and the relationships between them. The book jumps in with them having been evacuated, but I like the way this was done in the film. It shows Peter promising to protect his family, which comes across very well later on. There is also the way he looks at the soldiers going off to war with longing to be one of them, which is paid off later when he is offered the chance to fight for Narnia.
I think this adaptation works very well and I'm pleased with how it was handled. Nothing major was left out and the writers kept the magic of the story.
~~~ The Effects ~~~ I thought the special effects were done wonderfully. The number of magical creatures in Narnia is tremendous, so there are centaurs, talking beasts, unicorns, griffins, fawns, dryads, phoenixes, satyrs and they're just the good guys. All were done brilliantly. Can I say realistically when talking about something magical? Well, I will anyway. The talking animals were wonderfully convincing and the way the human characters interacted with the magical ones was flawless.
My one gripe with the effects was that all the animals were done wonderfully, so Aslan didn't seem all that special. He should have been so much more impressive, in my opinion. He was well done, there's no doubt about that, but when everything else is too, he doesn't stand out as much as he should.
As well as the animals, there are the effects of magic, of people turning to stone, the sequence with the river melting, and so many other occasions. The effects meld brilliantly into the film.
~~~ The Characters ~~~ The characters of the children were all well-described by CS Lewis, but the film gives more personality to some of the others, such as the Beavers. The Beavers are portrayed differently in the film to the way they come across in the book, but they work wonderfully as a griping, bickering couple. The interactions between them create some very amusing moments. There is also the character of Oreius, the centaur general of Aslan's army. He wasn't in the books, but I thought he was necessary for the film. The idea of Peter leading a battle without an experienced general to help him stretches plausibility a bit too far, even for a fantasy story. The Fox was another character added, but he worked to raise the tension and show the workings of the resistance against the White Witch.
For the other characters in the story, the film is amazingly faithful to the book. The acting was brilliant, though I'm not sure whether to praise the voice actor or the CGI team when saying that about half the characters. The all come over brilliantly. The characters aren't perfect, which works very well. When the good guys have some major flaws, it lets you believe in the main characters which helps you believe in the magic as a whole.
I have said that I was impressed by the acting, but I was astounded by Georgie Henley, who played Lucy. At ten years old, she was just incredible. I'm used to child acting being a little wooden and having some scenes where they don't quite manage it. Not so here. She was amazing from start to finish. It's worth seeing the film just for her performance.
Skandar Keynes as Edmund had a couple of weaker moments in his acting, but only when compared with the rest of the cast. On the whole, he was portrayed Edmund's character extremely well. For someone only fourteens year old, the performance was impressive and it was a very difficult character he had to act.
~~~ Cast List ~~~ Georgie Henley - Lucy Pevensie Skandar Keynes - Edmun Pevensie William Moseley - Peter Pevensie Anna Popplewell - Susan Pevensie Tilda Swinton - Jadis, The White Witch James McAvoy - Mr Tumnus Jim Broadbent - Professor Kirk Liam Neeson - Voice of Aslan Dawn French - Voice of Mrs Beaver Ray Winstone - Voice of Mr Beaver Rupert Everett - Voice of the Fox Patrick Kake - Oreius
~~~ The Christian Metaphor ~~~ Some people don't notice when reading the books, and probably while watching the film, but a part of the story is meant to be a metaphor for the story of Easter. There is also the description of the children as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. This doesn't mean you have to be a Christian to enjoy it. The references to Christianity are definitely in the background, so you can happily ignore them and enjoy the adventure going on in the foreground if that's what you want.
This is one of the great stories that is wonderful for what it is, a tale of adventure and excitement, but also gives you something to think about if that's what you want in your films. The comments made by Aslan about love, sacrafice and Deep Magic needn't be asscribed to just the Christian faith, but could be considered a nice message about life in general.
Besides, before you get too weighed down by theology, remember what Lucy thinks is the most important thing about Christmas: presents!
~~~ Overall ~~~ Just in case you hadn't noticed by now, I thought this film was wonderful. If you have kids, take them to see it. If you don't, find some neighbours kids to take to see it. Failing that, just go and see it. It's definitely a family film, but that doesn't mean it's just for kids. I loved it, my parents loved it and by the sounds of it, the other people in the cinema also loved it.
I would say that many children would enjoy it for the battles, magic and adventure. Adults will like it especially if they have enjoyed the books or the BBC adaptation. I would recommend going and watching it and I am definitely buying it when it comes out on DVD.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Great, got this one on DVD , real classic! Great review too! x
super_stevo 14.04.2006 10:06
I didnt think i would like this and when i watched it I enjoyed it more than king king which I definately didnt think that woulD be the case. I thought it was a very entertaining film.Pukka review,stevo!!
katygriff 03.02.2006 10:39
I loved this film, thought it was excellent and i will too will def buy it on DVD> x
C.S. Lewis's classic novelThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobemakes an ambitious and ... more
long-awaited leap to the screen in this modern adaptation. It's a CGI-created world laden with all the special effects and visual wizardry modern filmmaking technolog...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
C.S. Lewis's classic novelThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobemakes an ambitious and ... more
long-awaited leap to the screen in this modern adaptation. It's a CGI-created world laden with all the special effects and visual wizardry modern filmmaking technolog...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
C.S. Lewis's classic novelThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobemakes an ambitious and ... more
long-awaited leap to the screen in this modern adaptation. It's a CGI-created world laden with all the special effects and visual wizardry modern filmmaking technolog...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
C.S. Lewis' timeless adventure The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The ... more
Wardrobe follows the exploits of the four Pevensie siblings - Lucy Edmund Susan and Peter. Set in World War II England the children enter the world of Narnia through...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Visually excellent recreation of Narnia, very faithful adaptation Disadvantages: Compares unfavourably to LOTR, White Witch lacks presence as a villain
![The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78489899.jpg "The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [DVD] [2005]")
![The Chronicles Of Narnia 'Book 2'- The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78493743.jpg "The Chronicles Of Narnia 'Book 2'- The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe [2005] [DVD]")
Feb 1st, 2006
very helpful by (100%):
