Being that I am an avid hater of the entire Fantasy genre, watching the Chronicles of Narnia didn't seem like something that I would personally ever do. After all I have managed in my 24 years of life to avoid seeing some of the biggest blockbuster movies ever released, for example, never saw Titanic, never saw ANY of the Star Wars, didn't catch a single Harry Potter... so maybe I'm just meant to miss out on the big movies... but in reality it is just that I can't stand movies that have no real basis in reality. I have a hard time relating to science fiction and fantasy movies, so it's difficult for me to enjoy them. I spend so much time over analyzing them, that I'm horribly disappointed by the end of the movie.

But, even with all that said, I found myself in a situation, I could either see The Chronicles of Narnia with an extremely beautiful woman, or I could tell her to F-off. Well, I decided that sticking to my guns on this one, just wasn't worth it and wouldn't prove to benefit anyone ultimately. So, I sucked it up, sat my happy butt down, and began to watch the movie with her on my couch.

At first, I tried to find anything possible to avoid the movie, without her noticing all that much. I volunteered to make some Kettle corn, that would give me about 2-3 breaks from the movie I figured. Then I volunteered to get us some drinks. After all that, I still only missed about 15 minutes of total time from the movie. It looked like I was just going to have to suffer through this one.

The Cast
Georgie Henley .... Lucy Pevensie
Skandar Keynes .... Edmund Pevensie
William Moseley .... Peter Pevensie
Anna Popplewell .... Susan Pevensie

Tilda Swinton .... White Witch

James McAvoy .... Mr. Tumnus, the Faun

Jim Broadbent .... Professor Kirke

Kiran Shah .... Ginarrbrik

James Cosmo .... Father Christmas
Judy McIntosh .... Mrs. Pevensie
Elizabeth Hawthorne .... Mrs. MacReady
Patrick Kake .... Oreius

Shane Rangi .... General Otmin
Brandon Cook .... Boy on Train
Cassie Cook .... Girl on Train

The Plot
In order to keep from ruining the movie, I will give only minimal information about the movie in order to preserve it's integrity, as I always do. If you are looking for a more in depth review that covers every aspect of the movie, so that you can live vicariously through the reviewer, this is not your review... so move along little donkey... but if you want just enough to make an informed decision... please carry on...

Essentially, the basic concept of the plot is that these children find this magical wardrobe in which they can cross through into a magical land called Narnia. In this land, the world is run by animals for the most part. There is an evil white witch who along with her evil army sort of rule over the land and making things extremely difficult for everyone else. The creatures all live in fear of her and if they try to challenge her, she freezes them rendering them completely helpless until she is defeated.

The children come to Narnia and play a huge role in the development of the movie. The children are to be the heirs to the throne. Without their help, the world of Narnia will forever be controlled by the evil witch and all of the creatures will suffer.

Throughout the movie, the children are running from the witch, while trying to stay together. They are broken apart from one another several times, and are always trying to bring everyone back together, especially after they find out that it's pertinant that all of them are together in order to save Narnia.

The children eventually meet up with the King, Aslof, who is basically a big lion, and they decide to help him and his good army defeat the evil witch who is already preparing her evil minions for battle. Obviously, everything comes together on the battlefield, and the children learn more about themselves and what they are capable of than they ever knew before.

The Acting
The acting is pretty impressive considering that they are just children acting out the parts. I'm assuming that they are also acting without the animals physically there, so it would have been much more difficult for them to do the dialogue with as much emotion as they had. They really seemed concerned when characters were injured, and it appeared as if they were really talking to these creatures. You definitely couldn't tell that the animals were added into the movie, after the fact.

I think the biggest selling point of the movie was the interpersonal relationships that these children had with one another. It appeared as if they were all really in this struggle together and truly had to depend upon one another to survive. The dialogue between them all was excellent and truly made the movie POP.

The Animals
Another major selling point for the movie, which made it more viewable for myself, was the amazing graphics and animations. You could not tell that these creatures were computer generated. It seemed as if the lions, the dwarfs, the centaurs, etc, were all really in this movie, talking and acting alongside of the main REAL actors/actresses. You definitely couldn't tell the difference from the real and the fake in this movie. Without such impressive computer generated creatures, this movie would have never been able to come together quite like it did and would have left a horribly sour taste in my mouth.

Final Thoughts
Overall the movie is a great movie for what it is. I had a hard time with all of the animals ruling over this kingdom, and all of the mythical creatures. However, even with all that I was able to watch completely through the movie, and get some enjoyment out of it. The movie was a little childish for my liking, but it is definitely a good movie for children over the age of 10 to watch. Although, there are some pretty adult situations so I wouldn't really recommend it for any younger children, unless you are prepared to have complex discussions with them.

The graphics are what really sell the movie, supported by great acting. If it wasn't for the combination of the two, then the movie, would have sunk in my opinion. Overall it's a great movie and probably even better for those that are really big on this genre of movie.

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Family Movie
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.