The Chronicles of Narnia : The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia is one of those epic children’s
stories that has transcended time. Written by C.S. Lewis in 1950, this
children’s book is an amazingly epic story that, though it is as world-changing
as Lord of the Rings, is not quite as scary, and geared more towards a younger
audience. As you can see, there are parallels between Narnia and Lord of the
Rings. Both are stories written by men who knew each other and were friends who
were strong in their faith and the stories show that with their own parallels
through the spiritual journey of Christ and his sacrifice made around 2000
years ago.
The film is a pure adaptation of the book, The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe. When I say a pure adaptation, I mean that nothing was
left out. The reason being is that a fairly quick reader could probably get
through the book in the same amount of time it takes to go to the movie. The
book is only about 80 pages and the audio book of the same is only about 2
hours long. So it is a children’s book, but a strong story comes out of it. I
have heard multiple people say that it is Lord of the Rings “Light”. But I
think that it is geared more to a different audience of the same genre. This is
geared towards children, and younger readers, whereas LOTR was geared toward
readers in more teenage years. The film is a fluid journey that comes out
almost completely unscathed by the transition from page to screen.
The story follows 4 siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy
Pevensie as, during wartime, they are sent away from their home as a way of
keeping them safe. They move into Professor Kirke’s home and, with it being a
large house, look for something to do. During a game of hide and seek, Lucy
finds her way into an armoire that is filled with coats as a likely hiding place.
But what she finds is that the armoire does not have a backing to it, but
instead leads into the world of Narnia and all of the wonder that comes with
it.
The children do a fine job acting, but you can tell from
time to time that there is a hint of inexperience. 3 of the four children have
been in less than 3 movies thus far, and you can tell which child is the more
experienced if you look for it. Every now and then you find that their facial
expressions aren’t quite spot on with what you expect, or their lines are a
little dry. But they do a great job for being so early in their careers.
Lucy, the youngest is played by Georgie Henley, and she does
a fine job. She is the guiltiest of the facial expression problem. But she is
so cute in the movie that it makes you want to turn a blind eye to her and the
mistakes that she makes every once in awhile. But she does a very good job and
fits the role of the amazement in a land like Narnia very well. I could see any
child being in awe of the beauty and fantasy of Narnia if they were able to get
there. And she takes that and runs with it.
There are plot devices that are put into play to make the
transition from book to movie. Some of these devices are never actually talked
about in the book, but you could see them being the reason for other things
happening in the book. They almost come into play like parts of the story that
were never told. Normally I don’t care for people adding parts to an already
existing story like that, but it works extremely well. In the book, we are
never told why the children are moved to the Professor’s house, but in the
movie, the use of war makes for a likely reason to move the children to a safer
home. Also, items like a fire lullaby, the running from the wolves, and the
crowning of the children are never touched, but to be more pleasing of a movie,
it works quite well.
Everything that you remember from the books is still in the
movie as well. Everything including the lamppost just outside of the wardrobe,
Mr. Tumnus the fawn, and the White Witch, are exactly how you imagine them in
the books. There is also a part of the book that is only mentioned once, but
used multiple times during the movie. That is the use of the trees. In the
book, it talks about how some of the trees are bad, and then it is never
revisited. But in the movie, it is referenced at the same point as in the book,
but is also referenced multiple other times so it makes more sense to the
story.
It is a beautifully put together movie. The difference in
colors between when we are in Narnia with the white witch, and when we are with
our heroes has a very strong contrast between the light and dark of the souls
that are in the movie. And the music is inspiring as it should be in an epic
tale like this. Some of the shots are perfect and really breathtaking, plus you
are hard-pressed to tell the difference between the green screened shots and
the real life shots.
With this being a story of fantasy, there are so many
different mythological characters, some from the original story and some
original to the movie. You have characters like griffins, minotaurs, unicorns,
and even a phoenix. It gives it that larger than life, world altering effect of
the Lord of the Rings. But it keeps the characters closer to the heart than the
other film.
As a single film, I think that The Chronicles of Narnia is
better than the Lord of the Rings. In the Tolkien films, you have almost 12
hours to resolve the storylines of the characters, but in this film, you have
just under 2 and a half. It is also more emotionally hard to watch. I have
never been so emotionally involved in a film before. With each twist and turn,
you find yourself truly moving into the world that is in front of you and it
brings you in for the tears and the joy. The film was truly amazing.
This film, though it may not win Oscars for many items, as a
complete film, it is nearly flawless. The CGI is breathtaking, and the story is
amazing. You enjoy every minute and are blown away by all of the elements of
the film. The thing that makes a movie so perfect is that you don’t notice the
film. When I say you don’t notice the film, I mean, you forget about the
elements and are able to truly enjoy the movie. In this film, you don’t look at
the shots as shots, but as a point of view, and instead of looking at the
characters as actors, you believe that these people are truly who they say they
are. The film is amazing and I think that it is so well done that it is one I
could go see again without any reservation about it spoiling the experience. In
fact, I believe it would enhance the experience by letting me see more of the
items I missed the first time. Take the kids and let them draw their own
experiences from this film. I haven’t ever given a movie a perfect score, but I
have to give the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe a
10 out of 10.
