Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe


3 stars out of 4 - while it maintain the central story of the book and had some great characters, it is not quite the caliber of the LotR movies and felt rushed. My full review and a character by character breakdown

The moment has finally arrived and what I had been anxiously awaiting and anticipating is now here - The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has made it to the big screen. The result is a set of mixed emotions for me - I was overjoyed to see that they left much of the central story and message of Aslan dying to save Edmond intact, but I was a bit dismayed at the parts they did change. I was moved by returning to Narnia again, and the animals and scenery were very accurate, but everything moved so quickly I never felt like I got to take it all in. I definitely cried during the film and enjoyed it, and yet there is this nagging feeling that something was missing. I'll attempt to break down these mixed emotions into concretes by hitting the different aspects of the movie, and giving it a positive, negative or indifferent.

Overall production values: positive - This is a big budget movie and it shows. Weta did their usual amazing job with the weapons and the characters - I especially liked Peter's sword.

Peter: indifferent - Not a bad performance for sure, but also nothing tremendously compelling. Peter, along with the other characters, suffers from the writer's desire to make the characters conflicted and wanting to leave Narnia. Peter just wants to get Edmund and get home - a big change to selfishness from the Peter of the books, who believes they should fight for Mr. Tumnus because of his kindness to Lucy, and is a devoted follower of Aslan.

Susan: indifferent - Susan isn't much a of factor in this movie. She shows up and delivers lines, but its not like you notice her character much. This is probably also to blame on the writers, but her performance isn't exactly stunning either.

Edmond: positive - Perhaps its just because I love the books so much, and if you love the books, you can't help but sympathize with Edmund. He is the sinner I see in me, the selfish lack of concern that would sell out my family for some selfish gain. Edmund's performance in this movie is a positive as well. He carries the changed Edmund rather well, without making the earlier Edmund seem evil in a silly way and without making the later Edmund seem unbelievably and suddenly virtuous - not
an easy task for a child actor.

Lucy: very positive - Lucy is really the star of this movie. Even people who are not completely sold on the movie are completely sold on her. She really captures the sort of innocent and childish wonder of the character. One of Lewis' big themes in the Chronicles is this sense of child-like wonder and joy in creation. Lewis, more than any of author, captures what having faith like a child might look like, in order to give us a glimpse of ourselves and where we've grown old. The movie scene where Lucy first stumbles into Narnia captures this perfectly - you can see her face light up with the kind of wonder and amazement that is the heart of child-like faith.

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver: positive - Although I am very disappointed that they cut out one of my favorite sections of dialog that featured Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (see this post for the quote), and rearranged a large portion of their involvement in the story, the digital effects are great and they are believable characters. They come across as the lovable characters they are in the book, and I have no doubt that a lot of kids will find them charming and lovable (as I did). But where was Mr. Beaver's pipe?

Mr. Tumnus: indifferent - The look of Mr. Tumnus was done pretty well - he does look like you'd expect a faun - and the actor who plays him seems charming in his scenes with Lucy - which is definitely how he comes off in the books. However, one of the keys to Tumnus is his brush with evil and his character and love for Lucy winning over his own fears and selfishness. In the movie, you don't see as much of Tumnus' struggle and his despair for having, at least started to, serve the Witch. In the books, Tumnus' resolve and love for Lucy endears us to his character and gives us a real reason to care for him, but in the movie it moves much too fast for us to feel that connection.

Aslan: indifferent - While visually stunning and surprisingly believable as a character, they didn't capture the majesty and awe of Aslan in the books. Aslan was the central piece of the story in the books, and there is such a anxious awaiting and hopeful yet terrifying mood about him - you identify with the characters in the books and join them in longing to meet Aslan and yet still being fearful of what he will be like. I guess its not so much that the movie didn't do Aslan well, its that they didn't do the build up to meet him well and the other characters don't have the kind of fearful reverence and awe they do in the books. This fact alone is probably enough of an explanation as to why I think this film was good, not great - how can Narnia be great without her great King being shown in all his glory?

The Professor: positive - Although he is not a big character (in the book or the movies), he is one of the many vital supporting characters. The movie did a good job of capturing his quirkiness, his disdain of public schooling (what ARE they teaching children these days?), and his general charm. They did also include a bit of the great dialog he has with the children, but like many other things in the movie, it was so rushed through that it wasn't allowed to hit you with the force it does in the book. The book's professor delivers a cogent refute of the kind of materialism and science-as-epistemological-god philosophy prevalent today, and I wish they would have kept it intact. They still had the section where he advises the children that if Lucy is not mad, and she is a truthful girl, then the most viable option is simply to believe her story - the argument that would later become Jesus is liar, lunatic, or Lord.

My biggest complaint is probably that it felt so rushed and that they did not give us the time to enjoy this wonderful replica of Narnia that they've created. In LotR, you get to look around a bit, and take in the beauty of the Shire, or the amazing castles and strongholds. In Narnia, I can't really remember a distinct picture of Narnia because it was all moving so fast. This creates problems for the characters as well, as we are unable to identify with them or really understand their motives. My other main complaint is the rearranging of elements of the story. This article, has an excellent summary of one of the main changes and its consequences on the story. Another example is Aslan and the children's roles - in the books, Aslan is a very central character and the children are important, but not the whole story; in the movie, Aslan is more of a supporting character and the children are the heroes who are fulfilling the prophecy.

All in all, I would give it 3 stars out of 4, though I will admit I'm probably much kinder on it than normal because of my love for the books. I do really want to see it again before it leaves the theaters, and I am very anxious to see what they do with Prince Caspian (and with how good Lucy and Edmund were, I really would like to see a Voyage of the Dawn Treader). It is a good movie, but with some minor changes it could have been great.

UPDATE - GodBlogCon fellow attendee and friend Travis Fell (Voice in the Wilderness) dropped me a line to note that I had left the White Witch out of my review of Narnia. I can't believe I was so foolish. I have to agree with Travis, who says in his own review of Narnia - "Aslan’s frosty foil, the White Witch, is played with freeze dried nastiness by the freonically charged Tilda Swinton. I noticed the temperature drop in the theater when she was on screen." She does an especially good job in the first scene with Edmund, where she gently molds Edmund into the traitor he is to be. She has a coldness and bitterness to her that captures the White Witch well. Here again is a case of the pace of the movie diminishing what could have been great performances - we are given so little time to fear her or reflect on her malevolence, that her defeat is just another quick glimpse before the next big thing rather than the exciting and cheered triumph it should be.

Posted: Sat - December 24, 2005 at 07:20 AM | | | | | | |

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