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Movie Review - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Andrew Adamson |
| Starring: |
Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton and the voice of
Liam Neeson |
| Rated: |
PG (for battle sequences and frightening moments) |
| Length: |
140 minutes |
| Genre: |
Adventure/Fantasy/Family |
| Tagline: |
The beloved masterpiece comes to life December 9 |
| Studio: |
Walt Disney |
| Website: |
The Chronicles of Narnia |
| Release: |
December 9, 2005 |
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PLOT
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Four kids playing hide-and-seek in the country home of an old professor travel through an enchanted wardrobe
to the land of Narnia. They soon learn of a prophecy that declares they are the ones who are to help free Narnia
from the clutches of an evil witch. With the guidance of a lion messiah named Aslan, they reluctantly set out to
fulfill the prophecy.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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"And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her; not a few inches away from where the back of the wardrobe
ought to have been, but a long way off...she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time
with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air..."
With that, C.S. Lewis sends young Lucy Pevensie into the magical world of Narnia. Likewise, once the big screen
version of the wardrobe materializes, moviegoers follow Lucy into this alternate universe.
That's the true beauty of Narnia - it isn't portrayed as just a figment of the children's imagination; it's a
completely believable, imaginary world. C.S. Lewis never told the reader how he was supposed to perceive it;
Lewis was content to leave a lot to the imagination. Even the final battle for Narnia is described in fewer
than two pages.
And that's the true beauty of the film - it takes the source material and fills in the blanks that had previously
been left to the reader's mind. Visualizing in your head the fight between Aslan's army and the witch's
minions is a joy for the creative, but watching a massive battle involving centaurs, minotaurs, dwarves, giants,
and a wide variety of other mythical creatures is truly a sight to behold.
C.S. Lewis theorized that if a book is worth reading when you're five, then it needs to be equally worth
reading when you're 50. The same holds for the movie - I gladly recommend this regardless of whether you're
five or 50 or anywhere over, under, and in between.
What makes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe so accessible is its focus on topics that we can all relate
to in some form - betrayal, forgiveness, selfless sacrifice, family, and loyalty. For Christians, the allegory
behind the story certainly gives the film more meaning as Aslan, the Christ figure, battles the Devil's
representative - the witch. But those who aren't as spiritually inclined will find this to be a great epic story
of a battle between good and evil. The spiritual parallels are easy to recognize, but they're never
heavy-handed.
Fans of the book will notice that the movie has implemented some minor changes, and you may be puzzled by some
curious exclusions (why was there no Giant Rumblebuffin?), but overall this is a faithful adaptation that should
live up to and probably exceed your expectations. What is there not to like?
The actors are great (particularly Tilda Swinton as the witch and the adorable Georgie Henley as Lucy), the
CGI is remarkably impressive (Aslan looks very real!), the battle is genuinely exciting, the world of Narnia
feels real, the creatures are given life without ever becoming cartoonish, and the moviegoer is treated to a
two-hour vacation from whatever stress or hardships he or she may be enduring.
There aren't a whole lot of movies these days that completely suck me into their world and force me to concentrate
on the characters and the story rather than on the actors that I'm watching. Tom Cruise will always be Tom
Cruise, and Angelina Jolie will always be Angelina Jolie. But for two hours Tilda Swinton is the evil witch,
Georgie Henley is a little girl whose reactions feel real and sincere, and Aslan feels like more than just an
impressive piece of CGI.
This is exactly the kind of movie I want to see more of. Go see it. If you think you're too grown up to enjoy
this and can't let your imagination get the best of you then perhaps it's time for you to, in the words of Todd
Snider, grow back down.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- The Chronicles of Narnia series (consisting of a total of seven separate books - The Lion, the Witch, and
the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The
Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle) has sold over 85,000,000 books
in 29 different languages.
- Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has cited the Narnia series as one of her main inspirations.
- The faun was C.S. Lewis' original inspiration for the creation of Narnia. He said "it all began with a picture
of a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood."
- It took two people over a three hour period to put makeup on actor James McAvoy to transform him into Mr.
Tumnus, the faun.
- Over 2000 children were interviewed for the lead roles.
- The wardrobe's design was based on a wardrobe that C.S. Lewis owned. It's now in a museum.
- The story of The Magician's Nephew is told through the carvings in the wardrobe.
- The movie was filmed in Poland, the Czech Republic, England, and New Zealand.
- New Zealand's South Island was used to shoot the climactic battle for Narnia.
- More than 1300 weapons were created for the battle, including swords, maces, shields, and armor.
- 23 individual species and 170 individual characters were created for the film.
- Through the magic of CGI 20,000 creatures were created for the final battle.
- Tilda Swinton was in Constantine with Peter Stormare who was in
Windtalkers with Christian Slater who was in Bed of Roses with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow
Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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It's not as kid-friendly as Chicken Little or
Racing Stripes or other such fluff. After all, there's a huge battle scene
with a good amount of bloodless violence, but this is a movie I can recommend to all ages. Mr. Shade's daughter is
not yet 3 years old, but she remained entranced the entire time. She did jump a couple of times, and there are some
elements that may be a little scary for the wee lads, but it's very family friendly.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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If you loved the trailer then you'll love the movie.
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THE GIST
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This is one of four movies this year that I easily recommend to all (Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins,
and Cinderella Man being the other three).
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