I remember falling in love with C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books when I was a child. They were exciting and featured young children that a kid like me could relate to. Any kid with an overactive imagination will be captivated by the adventure and excitement all seven of the Narnia books contain.
I read the books again later after graduating high school and they were still just as good as before. So when the movie was finally going to be released, I looked forward to it, although I was leery. As anyone who grows attached to a book series, I had a very vivid depiction in my mind what the film should look like. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to love it through and through, but I was willing to take what was laid before me.
There was an awful lot of religious hoopla surrounding The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe during the lead-up to the film's release. Some wanted the film to contain strong evangelistic overtones while others proclaimed it as a dangerous piece of proselytism.
Fortunately, the filmmakers stayed true to the subtlety of the source material. The book and film only hinted at Christian ideas; it was largely allegorical. When I read the books at 8 and 18 I didn’t pick up on the religious stuff. C.S. Lewis used an awful lot of pagan imagery as well, and most of it is in the forefront of the story, relegating Christian themes mostly to the shadows only more perceptive readers will detect.
So, for actual comments on the movie- I liked it. It was very stunning, although some of the CGI looked a tad fake. I also wasn’t so crazy about the actress playing Lucy- I felt Lucy should have been cuter. There were some additions and subtractions from the original story that I noticed that I wasn’t too keen on, but they didn’t ruin the film for me. The effects were pretty good on the whole and the music, though not very memorable, was a plus. The young actors all pulled off better performances than the early Harry Potter films managed.
My rating is fairly subjective this time though, because I love the story and they did a good job on translating it to film.
I remember falling in love with C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books when I was a child. They were exciting and featured young children that a kid like me could relate to. Any kid with an overactive imagination will be captivated by the adventure and excitement all seven of the Narnia books contain.
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