The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Having first read the Chronicles of Narnia in 1979, I had grave misgivings when I heard a movie was being made. I wasn’t only concerned about issues such as special effects and where they’d film the movie — Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies were showing that wasn’t much of a problem in the 21st century. I was mostly concerned about the tone and feel of the books, which are charmingly anachronistic.
I didn’t need to worry after all: The live action The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The casting was also exceptionally well done, with all of the children actually looking like siblings and like real children (not Hollywood actor children creatures) besides. Tilda Swinton is especially good as the White Witch, who plays evil with a sophistication and intelligence rarely seen in movies.
For adults, there’s also great fun in spotting some of the celebrity voices of the wonderfully animated talking animals. Rupert Everett as the talking fox was an especially witty choice, and perfectly suited to the role.
In the end, as long as the film was, it suffers a bit from being an adaptation of a relatively short children’s novel, and feels significantly thinner than, say, Peter Jackson’s much denser Fellowship of the Ring. This isn’t a crippling blow to the movie — it’s still quite enjoyable and makes one eager for the next movie in the series — but it does mean the film doesn’t really bear the repeated rewatchings the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings movies do.
Strongly recommended for fantasy fans of all ages and the original Narnia books.
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