Movie Review
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Rating:A-
Summary: Based on the very popular series by C. S. Lewis, this movie was probably one of the best adaptations straight from a book I have ever seen. The movie truly does follow the book almost word for word, scene by scene. (But then again, when the book's only about 200 pages or so, it isn't hard to stay true to the story.) The long and the short of the story is that four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated from war torn London during WWII to stay in the countryside like so many other children in England. They end up at the Professor's country home. Now the Professor is a bit of a social recluse, and the rule is not to disturb him. The housekeeper mostly deals with the children, and it is somewhat her fault that all four of them end up in the wardrobe, as they hid from her after breaking a window.
Lucy had already known that the wardrobe transported the children into Narnia. Her brothers and sisters did not believe her, and even Edmund who later came through after her lied about her seeing the strange snow covered land. Narnia is the Kingdom of Aslan, who had been missing for many years. (Read 100!) And while he was gone, a Witch by the name of Jaida came and proclaimed herself the Queen of Narnia, sinking the lands into a snow covered gloom where it was always cold and there was no winter. She hunted human children, for the prophecy was that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would sit on the four thrones and her control would slip away. Spring would return to the lands.
It's a pretty straight forward, to the point fantasy tale. Since I believe the books were designed to be children's bedtime stories fort he most part, it is not surprising how to the point they were. (At some point I will do a book review on the series as a whole. So tune in there for more book related detail.)
Tasha Ratings
Good: A-
The film was beautiful. The make up was wonderful and the costumes were very well thought out and picked out to suit the characters. The dialogue was not hard to follow, and the children all did such a wonderful job in beating their archtypes into everything they did. I will be honest, there were many points in the movie where I was moved by a particular part almost to the point of tears. My favorite part was the "Discussion" between the Witch and Edmund after his arrival in her castle. Tilda Swenton did such a wonderful job just appearing to be beautiful and yet evil incarnate all at the same time.
Fun: B
I think the beavers in the movie are the only really comical parts. The children do say several kid type things that are just entertaining, but the beavers were really the comic relief of the piece. The movie was not so serious that you were contemplating the nature of God or anything, but it was not a typical children's movie either. There was a point to the madness, and several conversations that literally screamed, "We are discussing FAITH and GOD!"
The war sequence was very interesting, as the filmers made an entire sequence where there was not any gore. You didn't really see anyone get fatally hurt, and if they did it was only for a brief second. Even when the Witch was pounced on by the Lion and her throat torn out, you didn't see it. You saw time dilate down around Peter who was watching the sequence, and then it was all over. It was a very classy way of having a war in a children's movie without boosting the rating up so much that they are having nightmares about what they saw.
Recommendation: I believe that fans of the Chronicles of Narnia will really enjoy this flick. Also, I think their friends who have had to listen to their drivel for the last couple months up to this movie will also enjoy the flick. It at it's very core is a fantasy movie. Maybe not as dark and violent as some we are used to, but all the same, Narnia is a classic. It's going to have to go on the shelf next to the Lord of the Ring's trilogy. I really enjoyed it, and concidering I do not really appreciate Christian fiction type films for their in you face attitude about faith, I was very surprised. C. S. Lewis really did a wonderful job creating a story you could enjoy, even if you didn't realize the implications behind his words.
Rating:A-
Summary: Based on the very popular series by C. S. Lewis, this movie was probably one of the best adaptations straight from a book I have ever seen. The movie truly does follow the book almost word for word, scene by scene. (But then again, when the book's only about 200 pages or so, it isn't hard to stay true to the story.) The long and the short of the story is that four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated from war torn London during WWII to stay in the countryside like so many other children in England. They end up at the Professor's country home. Now the Professor is a bit of a social recluse, and the rule is not to disturb him. The housekeeper mostly deals with the children, and it is somewhat her fault that all four of them end up in the wardrobe, as they hid from her after breaking a window.
Lucy had already known that the wardrobe transported the children into Narnia. Her brothers and sisters did not believe her, and even Edmund who later came through after her lied about her seeing the strange snow covered land. Narnia is the Kingdom of Aslan, who had been missing for many years. (Read 100!) And while he was gone, a Witch by the name of Jaida came and proclaimed herself the Queen of Narnia, sinking the lands into a snow covered gloom where it was always cold and there was no winter. She hunted human children, for the prophecy was that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would sit on the four thrones and her control would slip away. Spring would return to the lands.
It's a pretty straight forward, to the point fantasy tale. Since I believe the books were designed to be children's bedtime stories fort he most part, it is not surprising how to the point they were. (At some point I will do a book review on the series as a whole. So tune in there for more book related detail.)
Tasha Ratings
Good: A-
The film was beautiful. The make up was wonderful and the costumes were very well thought out and picked out to suit the characters. The dialogue was not hard to follow, and the children all did such a wonderful job in beating their archtypes into everything they did. I will be honest, there were many points in the movie where I was moved by a particular part almost to the point of tears. My favorite part was the "Discussion" between the Witch and Edmund after his arrival in her castle. Tilda Swenton did such a wonderful job just appearing to be beautiful and yet evil incarnate all at the same time.
Fun: B
I think the beavers in the movie are the only really comical parts. The children do say several kid type things that are just entertaining, but the beavers were really the comic relief of the piece. The movie was not so serious that you were contemplating the nature of God or anything, but it was not a typical children's movie either. There was a point to the madness, and several conversations that literally screamed, "We are discussing FAITH and GOD!"
The war sequence was very interesting, as the filmers made an entire sequence where there was not any gore. You didn't really see anyone get fatally hurt, and if they did it was only for a brief second. Even when the Witch was pounced on by the Lion and her throat torn out, you didn't see it. You saw time dilate down around Peter who was watching the sequence, and then it was all over. It was a very classy way of having a war in a children's movie without boosting the rating up so much that they are having nightmares about what they saw.
Recommendation: I believe that fans of the Chronicles of Narnia will really enjoy this flick. Also, I think their friends who have had to listen to their drivel for the last couple months up to this movie will also enjoy the flick. It at it's very core is a fantasy movie. Maybe not as dark and violent as some we are used to, but all the same, Narnia is a classic. It's going to have to go on the shelf next to the Lord of the Ring's trilogy. I really enjoyed it, and concidering I do not really appreciate Christian fiction type films for their in you face attitude about faith, I was very surprised. C. S. Lewis really did a wonderful job creating a story you could enjoy, even if you didn't realize the implications behind his words.