The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe hits the big screen!
Written: Dec 08 '05 (Updated Mar 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful entertainment, a fine interpretation of Lewis' novel
Cons: A few small glitches but nothing bad enough to detract from enjoying the film
The Bottom Line: We've waited a long time for this adaptation of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", but it was well worth it.
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| captaind's Full Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and ... |
I suppose it was inevitable that award for “BIGGEST” film of the year was always going to be a battle between three films, all of which are part of bigger sagas:
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - third in the series and sixth in order of being made. Potentially the series could reach nine episodes though only six have been made thus far, and apparently there are no plans to make the final three.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - fourth film in the series of seven. As of now six of the books have been published and the final volume will presumably be appearing sometime in the two or three years.
Disney’s The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - first written of the seven Chronicles of Narnia books but second in the chronological order (some people still view it as the first in the series however), and of course the first Narnia film made in what will hopefully be a continuing saga by Disney if this film is anything to go by.
For me, the accolade of Biggest Film Release of the Year must go to this film. (To anyone who thought Batman Begins was the biggest film, I can understand your reasons, but I don’t think it was “Big” on the scale of the three mentioned above.) The anticipation for both the Star wars and Harry Potter films was huge, but The Lion, The witch, and The Wardrobe was going to be something new. Okay the story wasn’t new, and it had been transferred onto the screen before (i.e. the BBC’s Animatronix version nearly two decades ago), but this was the first time that the special effects were available to do the story justice. The danger was of course that the special effects would be too heavily relied upon.
So what you’re wanting to know by now is, what was the film actually like?
If you’ve read the book or seen the series, you’ll already know the basic plot – even if you haven’t, you’re unlikely to have gone through life completely unaware of the storyline. The four Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) are evacuated to a home in the country and find themselves in an old mansion with a fastidious Housekeeper and a Professor who doesn’t like to be disturbed. (At least, that’s what the Housekeeper tells them!) During a game of hide and seek, the youngest child Lucy finds a wardrobe, which she goes inside… and finds herself transported to another world. Eventually all four children end up in the other world, which is called Narnia, and find themselves embroiled in a battle between good (personified by the lion Aslan) and evil (embodied as the White Witch). Interestingly, the film begins, not with the normal scene of the children leaving the train or entering the mansion, but with a German bomber raid. This scene also shows Edmund’s rebellious side (he being the younger of the two boys).
The locations, set and costume designs, make-up, and accessories (weapons, gadgetry etc) were superb, as you would expect really since The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobehas much of the same production team as the Lord of the Rings films. Like that epic trilogy it is filmed in New Zealand, the scenery of which really lends itself to those rolling shots of mountains and sweeping panoramic shots that producers of epics are so enamoured of. The world of Narnia really has been lovingly created, the people and creatures that inhabit it wonderfully realised, and the things those people and creatures used intricately crafted. The CGI is generally very good, though there are a couple of short scenes that really “look” CGI.
Aslan himself is very impressive – his movement is realistic and truly conveys the powers and majesty of the animal and the characters, his voice is given the appropriate wisdom, solemnity, and majesty by Liam Neeson, and the roar (the weakest aspect of the old BBC version as you could hardly hear it!!) is awesome.
The acting was good throughout and sometimes top notch. All four main parts (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were played by William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley respectively), while Tilda Swinton as the White Witch was perfectly adequate though not outstanding. James McAvoy as the Faun Mr Tumnus was excellent and unsurprisingly the incomparable Jim Broadbent was wonderful even though he had only a few short scenes as the Professor in whose house the children now lived.
The plot keeps pretty well to the original, with only a few changes here and there that won’t be a problem to anyone but the purist (who is never going to be happy with any version so we can safely ignore them). There didn't seem to be any plot holes that weren't in the book, either. The action scenes are well done, though some of the action may be a little intense for very young ones so a little caution is needed by parents (a good excuse to watch it yourself before you take the kids! :-D). There is plenty of humour, particularly by the Beaver (voiced by Winston Davies – making that Beaver a Cockney sounds insane but it was inspired), which helps keep things enjoyable while the action slows down a bit. Dawn French and Rupert Everett also lend their voices as Mrs Beaver and a Gryphon. The music is superb throughout, and really gives the film atmosphere in all the right places.
Overall, this version of the C S Lewis classic (which I have to admit is my second least-favourite of the whole series!) is wonderful entertainment – not without its faults, but very enjoyable for the whole family. I’ve been waiting for this one all year and am glad to say that I’m not disappointed – I don’t think you will be either.
Other Information
Rating: PG for battle sequences and frightening moments.
Runtime: 140 min
Related Links
The Fellowship of the Rings
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
James McAvoy was Paul Bettany’s brother in Wimbledon
Jim Broadbent was also Bridget Jones’s Diary, Around the World in 80 Days in and a voice actor in ROBOTS
Ray Winstone was in Cold Mountain
See also my Top Ten Children's Movies
The final link must of course be: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe - the book!
Thanks for reading,
CaptainD
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See Also
Top Ten Films of 2005
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Recommended:
Yes
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