When the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are evacuated to the countryside during the war, they think they are in for a deeply boring time. Then during a game of hide and seek, Lucy goes into a wardrobe to hide and finds herself in a magical, snowy world called Narnia. At first, none of the others believe her, thinking that she is playing make-believe. But then they all end up in Narnia, which is in the middle of a Civil War, with a lion called Aslan representing Good and the White Witch representing Evil. The Pevensies are tasked with helping Aslan win the War - but is this possible when they are only children? Especially when the White Witch is doing her best to cajole Edmund over to her side...
As a child, I loved all the Narnia books, written by C S Lewis, and have fondest memories of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It was always going to be a tall order to make a quality film adaptation - I remember a TV version of the book made back in the eighties, which I enjoyed at the time, but of course special effects have moved on considerably since then. I was initially reluctant to watch this film, worried that it would not live up to the hype - I didn't doubt that the special effects would be good, but was more concerned that the rich flavour of the original book would be lost in the
switchover to the screen. I am pleased to say that generally, I thought this was a marvellous adaptation, and one that I will be pleased to watch again and again.
I am not familiar with any of the actors who play the Pevensie children - William Moseley is Peter, Anna Popplewell is Susan, Skandar Keynes is Edmund and Georgie Henley is Lucy. However, they all do a more than adequate job in their roles. I particularly liked Georgie Henley as Lucy - she is adorable and very natural in the role. Skandar Keynes is also great as Edmund - he plays it with just the right amount of nastiness and innocence to get the audience to understand why he behaves in the way that he does. Moseley and Popplewell are less inspiring - as the older children, Peter and Susan are more mature and therefore less quirky - but I was very pleased to see this because that is exactly as they are in the book.
Probably the best role in the film is that of the White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton. The White Witch is cold and hard and won't let anyone stand in her way - and this is immediately obvious from the way that Tilda Swinton looks - her stony gaze is spine-chilling. I didn't immediately recognise her though, she has a touch of Cate Blanchett's Queen Elizabeth about her and I thought that it was Blanchett at first. Also not immediately recognisable is James McAvoy, who plays Mr Tumnus, but that is not surprising bearing in mind that most of him is covered in faun fur and Jim Broadbent, who plays the Professor with whom the Pevensies are living.
There are several well-known actors who don't appear in the film, but do the voices for some of the characters. Ray Winstone is great as Mr Beaver, adding a touch of humour to the proceedings and Rupert Everett is somehow perfect as a fox. Liam Neeson is a lot less fun as Aslan - I couldn't really tell that it was him and the voice didn't really grab me at all - but he was certainly more than good enough, and sometimes it is less distracting if the voice isn't too recognisable.
There is no doubt that the most outstanding thing about this film is the special effects. They really are very well done - better even than I expected. I particularly liked Aslan, who looks, for the most part, exactly like a real lion. Best of all, everything is done so naturally that I really was transported into the magical world of Narnia. And although it is several years since I read the book, it is portrayed just as I remember it - something that cannot have been easy bearing in minds the time confines. The film is long at well over two hours, but I think this was necessary to tell the story the right way.
If I have to criticise the film at all it is that, although it only has a rating of PG, it is very violent and dark at times. One of the main characters dies at one point and I can imagine some children being traumatised by this. This is a faithful version of the original story, but somehow it seems worse when it is visualized, and it may not be appropriate for all children, particularly the very young. The film is also very long, and whereas, for once, I agree that it should have been this length, I can't imagine many children wanting to sit through it all in one go. Parents should take note of the PG rating and make sure they know what to expect before letting children watch it.
The movie was filmed in New Zealand and the Czech Republic. These locations really help to make the film something special - I particularly loved the snow scenes that the Pevensies happen upon when they first arrive in Narnia, which are all the better because the snow looks natural rather than fake as I would have expected. No doubt this added enormously to the film's budget, but it certainly stepped up the quality of the end product.
I didn't have particularly high expectations of this film - the reviews I had read weren't that complimentary and adaptations of much loved books are so often a let-down. However, I was really pleasantly surprised and found it a real pleasure to watch from start to finish - and bearing in mind that I usually think any film over an hour and a half long is way too long, that is not bad going. I do have reservations about its suitability for young children, but highly recommend it for anyone else. Even if it is not your usual genre, give it a go - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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
i saw this at the cinema with my little brother and your right - it was scary! hes 9 and looked a little bit uncomfortable at a few points! a good film though. Em x
Broon88 28.10.2008 00:27
Really nice review, very informative. Alastair
tallulahbang 25.10.2008 17:58
As a child I remember liking the book right up until the point where I worked out that it was all a big Christian allegory. Then I felt like I'd been hoodwinked into reading about Jesus. I'll never forgive C.S. Lewis for that. xx
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Oct 23rd, 2008
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