| THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe |
 2005 - USADirector: Andrew Adamson
- Reviewed by Linda
What I didn't know is what a delight I would find this film! And I certainly didn't know that I'd be seeing beavers speaking in Cockney accents and holding hands (paws?) like a doddering old couple. Talking beavers???? I wanted to scream. In fact I did. (In pure delight.) The story takes place in World War II London, where the four Pevensie children have been sent to a countryside mansion for safety from the bombings. Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan don't particularly want to be there, and neither do their hosts. Out of a boredom-induced game of hide-and-seek, little Lucy (Georgie Henley) discovers a mysterious wardrobe that serves as an entrance into the fantasy-land of Narnia. Narnia sort of looks like a less-scary Lord of the Rings-land, suffering from a 100-years winter that smothers the kingdom (because of the evil White Witch, frostily played by the fab—and eyebrowless—Tilda Swinton). Narnia is populated by fanciful characters. There are the good ones, like Mr. Tumnus the faun (perfectly, sweetly cast James McAvoy), Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (voiced by Ray Winstone and Dawn French), and the very, very thinly-cloaked Jesus figure of Aslan the lion (voiced by Liam Neeson). But of course there are the bad ones, the scary beasts ruled by the White Witch, like fierce wolves (the police!), raging buffalos, and evil servant dwarves. Everyone in Narnia is all a-twitter at the arrival of these kids, as they are believed to be part of the prophecy of peace which will end the rule of the White Witch (who of course wants them dead). The details of the prophecy are old news to everyone except the kids themselves, as they hesitantly then valiantly live up to their roles through a series of adventures and personal challenges. I don't want to give any more away, because if you haven't read the book, you'll find the unfolding of events as magical as I did. I do have one quibble with the movie. Though Narnia has an obviously huge budget, some of the special effects are strangely, and notably "off" while others blend seamlessly. WWII bombers in the opening scenes look like flat cartoons, and the water of a melting icy river looks silvery and wrong. Mr. Tumnus has a discolored nose during one scene because of mismatched makeup, and some backgrounds are obviously from a blue screen. But for all those moments, I was agog at sights like Tilda Swinton riding a chariot pulled by polar bears across a plain into battle (wow!). And once I got past the animated-ness of talking critters like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, and the Fox (voiced by Rupert Everett!), I totally fell in love with them and feared for their furry well-being. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made me feel like a kid again, which is quite a feat for this oft-jaded moviegoer. When the super-cute Lucy is reunited with her friend Mr. Tumnus, I wiped away a tear as they held hands again. In my mind, I thought, "Oh! They are so sweet together I can barely stand it! I want them to run away and get married!" Just for a moment, you see, I was able to forget such adult logistical problems as the fact that Lucy is, like, 8 years old and Mr. Tumnus is, well, hooved. The joy of well-done kids films is that you can escape enough where you don't have to be bothered with such realities. |
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There are several things I knew about The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe going into the film. I knew very vague plotlines of the story, which I had read when I was 10 years old—I knew that it was about four kids who go through a wardrobe, enter into a fantasy world and meet, among others, a lion and, um, a witch. I knew that Christian groups have been rallying in advance around this movie, embracing the Christian themes of C.S. Lewis's tale with a focused excitement not seen since the release of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ. And I knew that my friend Shannon, whom I would be bringing to the screening with me, would probably start weeping at the opening credits and be a complete mess for the rest of the film.
