I'm finally getting around to doing a review of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I took the family to see it last Saturday. My children are 7 and 10. I had them read the entire set of Narnia books before attending the movie. I wanted to give them chance to see what there imaginations would picture before the actual movie. It also told me they were ready to see the movie.
We all loved the movie. I thought it was pretty true to the book. I thought Aslan was not the awe-inspiring character that he could have been. The animation on him was spectacular, but the voice and his presence in the scenes was played down.
Lucy was perfectly cast. She had that wide eyed innocent quality that played very well. The scene where Tumnus and Lucy meet for the first time sets the stage for the movie. It showed the trusting innocence of a child meeting someone different than her for the first time that carried throughout the movie.
The witch was also very well done. You could see the tension within herself as she forced herself to be nice to Edmund.
Tumnus set the expectations for all the other characters of Narnia. He was done very well. I loved all the creatures they created. Their quality met and exceeeded my expectations.
The battle scenes, the sacrifice of Aslan were done in ways that would not be scary to most kids 7 year olds or up. You parents can determine whether you think your kids would be scared by wolves and other creatures that are out of the ordinary.
I am going back again soon. My 7 year old is planning a Narnia birthday party at the theater as well. This movie is a great movie to take the entire family to.
For those of you in the Chicago area, Wheaton College has the most compresive collection of C. S. Lewis memoribilia in the world. They have his desk, table and most importantly the actual wardrobe that inspired The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
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Article comments
1 - Adam Critchfield
Personally I thought this movie was far from excellent. If you are a fan of serious Medieval/Fantasy movies, don't bother with this one. But, if you are like my father, and grew up with the series, you may want to check it out. My complaint above all else, was the lack of character developement amongst any of the characters, especially the Lion. I felt very detached towards what was happening in the movie as a person who never read the books themself. If you have never read the books, then you will more than likely feel the same. Secondly, the acting was not the greatest. In multiple important scenes, I felt as if the actor/actress wasn't portraying the emotion that they should have been. In the scene where the Lion kills the Witch, the Witch showed no fear or emotion at all. Also, the children had multiples scenes where the emotions seemed almost melodramatic. The one thing that I would give this movie is the fact that Disney must have put some SERIOUS money towards the CG. The animation was absolutely amazing. Disney outdid Peter Jackson's rendition of King Kong in this department. Overall I gave this film 2/5 stars in a personal rating.