Ever since I was little, C. S. Lewis' classic books have held a special place in my heart. And with the incredible success of Peter Jackson's LOTR movies, I was very excited to see what was in store for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Shrek director Andrew Adamson teamed up with Disney (who better to make a Christian allegory) to create this beautiful epic fairy tale.
During the war, four children are forced to move out to the English country side, where they stay in a huge mansion. Lucy, the youngest, played by Georgie Henley (who looks oddly enough like my sister when she was little,) stumbles upon a wardrobe which transports her to another world. Eventually, all of the children are brought to Narnia where they join the Rebellion of animals and mythical creatures to fight the evil White Which and return peace to the land.
Then there's Aslan, voiced by Liam Neison, who dies for Edmund's sins and through the old magic is brought back to life. There was just some allegory that could not be avoided, but I was pleased to see that many of the Biblical references were left out of the film.
Henley's little pig nose and wide-eyed cuteness, though a little much at some points, worked well in the part of Lucy. The other children, while not horrible, were ok. Susan, played by Anna Popplewell, was also good, but the character doesn't have much to work with in this film (on par with the book.) The two boys, Edmund, Skandar Keynes, and Peter, William Mosely, while not horrible, did not inspire the same noble and courageous feeling as the characters should have, which I believe is partly due to the script. I feel that the sibling relationships were sacrificed to make room for the dazzling fight scenes, and other magestic storylines.
James McEvoy gave a mediocre performance as Mr. Tumnus. There was something lacking in his character, or maybe too present (a little Lucy-Tumnus thing going on?)
This film has some of the most amazing special effects ever seen to date. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who seemed slightly too cartoony, differentiating between CG characters and real characters was almost impossible. The fight scenes were amazing- and brutal for a PG Disney movie!
Having read all the books numerous times, I know the story by heart, so I'm not 100 percent sure how well the storylines and characters played to someone who went in fresh. For me, however, I was very pleased by the film adaptation. I would definately recommend this for children of all ages, and all those who like to expand on their imaginations. Overall Score: B+
2 comments:
What is your response to critics' nickname for Narnia: 'Lord of the Rings Light'?
I believe that was actually acclaimed critic Chris Gallo who first graced me with that phrase, and it was in response to my description of the film to him. He wanted me to compare it to the LOTR films, and I did it in the same way that I compare both sets of books. I always felt that LOTR was geered towards an older audience than The Chronicles. True, they were both originally children's books (though today's children probably wouldn't get past the first page) but LOTR is such a larger scale than Narnia. I think of not only the books, but the whole world created by Tolkein as much more in depth and expanive than that created by Lewis. So I definately agree with that nickname, but I don't think it is a negative comment.
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