The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Aslan, a witch, a bunch of rascals, some animals, and Santa Claus dealing out weapons... The old TV series adaptation is much better. Unfortunately, this is well-made only in technical terms (but not excellent), without a hint of ideas or invention. It’s boring, and if it weren't for the soundtrack and Tilda Swinton, it would be hard to watch to the end. The naivety of the story can hardly be blamed on the filmmakers, because it is already present to a much greater extent in the original book. But they can be reproached for the casting of the child actors. The children are absolutely unbearable, and some of them (or all?) you truly want to kill. The whole thing looks like perfectly standard consumerist and harmless family-friendly (in the bad sense of the term) Hallmark entertainment. (29/10/2006)

For children under 12 years old, this is a wonderful spectacle. I am not going to deny that I enjoyed it immensely when I was quite young, and I daresay it even trumped Lord of the Rings for me – however, times change, and so do opinions. Today I would say it is just another cult movie alongside Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but this time aimed at younger children. Adults will be a bit hesitant, teenagers will probably be rather disappointed. Why? The first stumbling block is the four child actors, the only one I liked was Anna Popplewell as Susan. The other three are just as demented as the families in The Simpsons, or even Family Guy. Skandar Keynes as Edmund is grumpy, obnoxious, and unlikable from the get-go, William Moseley comes across as a serious and wannabe classic-positive-character-with-whom-it-is-easy-to-identify-with type, and Georgie Henley, who is a slowly rising star in the US, and even compared to AnnaSophia Robb and Dakota Fanning, is lovely, but only when she has to be. Otherwise, she is so big-headed, pouty, and smug it is horrible to watch. On the other hand, Tilda Swinton is excellent and gives off a wonderfully icy impression, the digital treatment of Aslan and the magical creatures is breathtaking. The plot is, however, mediocre. All in all: this is an excellent movie for kids under twelve, and an average movie for most adults, the dissatisfied ones may mostly be teenagers or some adults or older people. Andrew Adamson should go back to Shrek. P.S In addition to all of that, another thing: Gregson-Williams' soundtrack is absolutely amazing (especially “The Battle”). (17/06/2008)

If I were a little kid, I'd probably be in seventh heaven from all those talking beavers, wolves, centaurs, eagles and other creatures, but as an adult, I was presented with something that was almost unbearable, especially in the second half. At the beginning, when the kids are getting acquainted with Narnia, it's a pretty brisk show, with beautiful winter scenery and sets that Weta did a really good job of producing. But from the encounter with Aslan in the second half comes the unbearable ubiquitous pathos, with fervent glances and profound proclamations, all meant to be deadly serious and without an ounce of levity, as if there was no place for humour in a story with Christian symbolism, which is not as readable for young children and may be completely irrelevant to them. A deeply religious man, Lewis projected the person of Jesus into his book through Aslan, with his sacrifice and resurrection, which he did for an unnamed Christian ecumenical nonprofit publisher whose enthusiastic promotional flyer for the film I got my hands on. It may be the film's essential centerpiece, but the average viewer sees it differently and is more interested in the fact that the CGI characters are legibly digital and have unnaturally jerky movements, and the level of the visual effects in general varies considerably, something surprising for a film with such a budget. The film is presented in such an uninteresting way, I'm sorry, but I don't see it as more than 2*. (10/03/2006)

The film’s reputation of being a mix of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings is absolutely nonsensical. The target child audience combined with a properly functioning fantasy world only works in terms of very broad themes. Andrew Adamson may be able to sit in front of a computer and work with his team to create the animated adventures of an ogre, but he hasn't managed to lay the groundwork for a new fantasy saga. Adamson relies solely on the visuals (which in many cases are quite shoddy) and completely disregards any kind of lifespan of Narnia as a world that is meant to keep the viewer hooked. The director tries to compensate the very lengthy first half with a more action-packed second half, but any drive is wasted thanks to the lack of heroism of the child characters, who become the saviors of Narnia more or less thanks to a few cuts between some sloppy dialogue. Adamson also lacks an eye for detail - how I wished that when Peter first drew his sword, the camera had slowly taken in its shining metal in all its glory. The cameraman was completely incomprehensibly restrained, which makes the magnificence of the final battle completely disappear and the film as a whole is a disproportionately long fairy tale, one that I would enjoy only after blowing out the eighth candle on my cake. (03/04/2006)

After Renata Fučíková's illustrations and the BBC adaptation of the first four books, I got a Narnia I’d never even hoped for. I saw it on the big screen 4 times, countless times on DVD, and it was revived regularly and never forgotten. I'm happy and crossing my fingers that all seven adaptations will finally be made. Maybe on Netflix, and hopefully for the fifth time, a complete set. (03/02/2009)