MOVIE REVIEW: The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Not a terrible movie but not the 'movie of the year' as the advertising suggested. I quite enjoyed the first half of the movie as the world is explored and the direction is subtle and images fantastic, creating a palpable sense of wonder. The second half of the movie was the epic battles, which although good, was rather PG and bloodless, which in itself isn't a bad thing either but failed to really excite me. By the end I was rather wishing I had tried Fun with Dick and Jane instead.

Graphically, the images were by and large very well done, but oddly slipped during the middle of the film where there are some particular scenes that looked like the children were standing in front of posters. Aslan was exceptionally animated, however the animators (as is common these days) couldn't resist going over the top, and his fur ruffles and waves in the wind far too much to be realistic which is a shame. Had the director insisted on a more subtle effect, Aslan would be truly photorealistic.

The actors were decent, but lacked the quality of better cast movies such as the Potter series. The children were decidedly average with the exception of the little cutie who played Lucy - Georgie Henley. Tumnus looked sleazy and I was put off by this half naked man taking a little girl home with him and then drugging her! Tilda Swinton was ok as the witch but also displayed a penchant for over dramatising ordinary scenes and then failing to pull off the climactic ones. The voices of Rupert Everett, Liam Neeson, Sam Winstone and Michael Madsen were all very good (Fox, Aslan, Mr. Beaver and Maurgrim respectively), but putting those wages into better live actors might have produced a better overall product.