Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (2005).
© Walt Disney Pictures
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG
Stars: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent
Writers: Ann Peacock and Andrew Adamson and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, based on the book by C.S. Lewis
Director: Andrew Adamson
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
By: Abbie BernsteinDate: Friday, December 09, 2005
Writers C.S. Lewis, who created the NARNIA series, and J.R.R. Tolkien, known for LORD OF THE RINGS, were contemporaries and friends. Their respective literary epics both involved vast conflicts in magical lands, but where Tolkien became invested in the intricacies of his unique mythology, Lewis had specifically Christian allegory in mind and wrote specifically for children.
Much has been written by scholars about who did or didn't influence whom regarding Lewis and Tolkien. Whatever one's opinion in that debate, it's pretty clear that the film adaptation of the first book in Lewis' series, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE owes something to Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's RING trilogy. Indeed, the ambience is so similar in many ways that people instinctively mourning the lack of a new RING film in December may find a good deal of consolation here.
LION begins in the real world, during the Blitz in WWII, when the Pevensie children eldest Peter (William Moseley), sensible Susan (Anna Popplewell), rebellious Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and forthright little Lucy (Georgie Henley) are sent out of harm's way to the country by their mother (their father is off fighting). The children go to stay in the enormous country manor of mysterious Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent) and his formidable housekeeper (Elizabeth Hawthorne).
During a game of hide and seek, Lucy discovers that the back of the wardrobe leads to another world, the realm of Narnia, populated by fauns, centaurs and a wide variety of talking animals. The land is in the evil grip of the White Witch (Tilda Swinton), who fears the prophecy that says her reign will end when four human children, two boys and two girls, return to sit on the kingdom's thrones. Lucy has trouble getting her siblings to believe her, and when Edmund does, he at first sides with the Witch. Eventually all four Pevensie children are embroiled in the conflict in Narnia, where the forces resisting the Witch are led by the heroic lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).
The Christian parables about betrayal, self-sacrifice and resurrection are still present, but the filmmakers avoid lecturing us they work smoothly as story elements without grandstanding. Director Andrew Adamson, in his first live action outing (he did the SHREK films), has a real sense of wonder and scope. Narnia itself feels properly huge and intricate. Most of the CGI looks fabulous, though some visual elements aren't quite as perfectly realized as they might have been had the film been made a few years later. We notice, but not enough for it to detract from the overall experience. We also notice a certain resemblance between some of the monsters in the Witch's hordes and some of the creatures seen in Middle Earth, as well as some similarities in the battle sequences, but it feels absolutely right there's no sense in shying away from doing something in a certain way if that's the way that works best.
The story unfolds with a suitable sense of urgency, but there are plentiful grace notes and humor, making LION feel rich and varied. Adamson and co-screenwriters Ann Peacock and Christopher Marcus & Stephen McFeely do a fine job of setting pace, differentiating the many characters and creating a sense of danger that is suspenseful without being traumatic for most young viewers (though really sensitive little ones may freak out at some of the more intense sequences). By being faithful to its period and characters there's no attempt to make the kids or the Narnians "hip" in any way the film has a sense of enthralling cohesion and integrity, never breaking its spell by trying for easy familiarity.
Adamson does a fine job with his actors. Swinton is an impressive villain, fierce and guileful and quite magical, and Henley in particular is charming. James McAvoy makes a strong impression as the warmly emotional faun Mr. Tumnus and the voice cast for the CGI characters is very well chosen, with Neeson a beautifully compassionate and authoritative Aslan, Ray Winstone and Dawn French very funny as the helpful Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Rupert Everett as the defiant Fox.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE is an excellent family film, gorgeous to watch, engaging to follow, often moving, accessible to children without dumbing down for the rest of us. It is what all-ages fantasy ought to be: enchanting.
