The Critics Speak

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Gotta See It
Released: December 9, 2005
Director: Andrew Adamson
MPAA RATING:PG, For Battle Sequences And Frightening Moments

Synopsis: Director Andrew Adamson gives a new dimension to C.S. Lewis's enchanting story with this long-awaited Disney adaptation. As the story begins, Mrs. Pevensie--in order to keep her children safe during World War II--sends Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmond (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell), and Peter (William Moseley) off to stay at a professor's country estate. Away from London and under the care of a strict housekeeper, they are instructed to stick to themselves and stay out of trouble. But when an innocent game of hide-and-seek leads young Lucy to a spare room containing a large wardrobe, she discovers something that will change their lives forever.

Inside the wardrobe there is a world frosted with ice and filled with magical beings. Known as Narnia, the land is stuck in eternal winter at the hands of the cruel White Witch, played with great force by the pale, strong-featured Tilda Swinton. When she steps back into reality, Lucy struggles to convince her skeptical siblings of the things she's seen. After much disbelief, the others finally enter the world as well, learning that the creatures of Narnia have long been waiting for humans like themselves to appear and break the witch's spell. But in order to be of any help to the lovable talking beavers, fawns, foxes, and centaurs that they meet, the four will have to face betrayal by one of their own as Edmond cracks under the witch’s tempting offer of unlimited Turkish Delights. Under the leadership of the great lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson), can Lucy, Edmond, Susan, and the oldest, Peter, prove themselves heroes in the ultimate battle of good vs. evil? High-budget special effects, impressive performances by the film’s young newcomers, and beautiful set design move this film far beyond previous television adaptations. --Taken from Rotten Tomatoes

My Take: I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe back in 4th grade along with the rest of the series. When I heard that it was being made into a movie again, I read the series just so I could be more irritated when the movie strayed from the book. :-) I tried watching the BBC version several years ago and just couldn't get past the slow pacing (typical of British productions); the mediocre acting, lighting, and set; and the crappy technical aspect of it. So, I was pretty excited that it was being redone. Even though the movie probably wouldn't be what I hoped it would be (ah-hem! DISNEY ah-hem!), I figured it would be better than the BBC one at leas in effects. The most important thing to me was that Aslan be portrayed as a strong character, and I thought he was. The kids were well chosen (thank you for choosing NEW actors instead of Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning) and did a decent job. I had issues with several places where the plot strayed from that of the book. I guess I'm a purist - why would you want to change any bit of the plot of such a perfectly crafted book? And the changes they made didn't make sense or add anything to the plot itself. But, I won't get into all of those here because you probably won't notice them unless you're a fan of the book. Overall, pretty good movie with some depth of character and stayed mostly true to the book.