Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch And the Wardrobe
Old-school fantasy
In many ways, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a throwback to another era.
It isn't just the World War II setting of the classic C.S. Lewis fantasy novel, but this film is a throwback to the golden days of Walt Disney Pictures, when the studio released glossy and engaging family-friendly fare that entertained without a trace of blood, gore or vulgarity.
The Walt Disney Pictures of the mid-20th century relied on old- fashioned storytelling with substantial adult as well as kid appeal, featuring uplifting themes and appealing young actors.
"Chronicles of Narnia" isn't Walt Disney so much as it is Lewis, and Lewis' milieu was the British halls of academia, not Main Street America (or hurly-burly Hollywood).
Still, the results for this Disney-released epic are pretty much the same. Straighforwardly adapted by screenwriter Ann Peacock and director Andrew Adamson (Shrek), Lewis' story gets the grand- scale treatment, with tons of special makeup effects, lavish battle scenes, a whole menagerie of talking computer-generated animals and beautifully dreamlike settings.
At its heart, though, it's a kids' fantasy-adventure from another era, sometimes unfolding in a stately manner -- especially in its first hour -- without the whiz-bang, quick-cut pacing that drives much of today's big-screen entertainment. It'll be interesting to see if the famously short-attention spans of today's kids will be engaged by the film's deliberate pacing.
"Chronicles" tells the story of four London kids sent to live in the country during WWII, to protect them from Nazi bombing raids. (An opening scene forcefully brings home the menace of the German bombers.)
Peter (William Moseley), the oldest, is charged with keeping the family together, while the adolescent Edmund (Skandar Keynes) chafes under Peter's watch.
Like Peter, teenage Susan (Anna Popplewell) seems determined to make the best of a bad situation, while Lucy (Georgie Henley) has a lot of trouble adjusting to life away from home.
It's Lucy who first finds the frozen land of Narnia, stumbling onto it at the back of a forbidding old wardrobe during a game of hide and seek. While the rest of the group is initially skeptical, they all eventually pile into the wardrobe and end up in the strange land.
There they're soon involved in a conflict between the White Witch (Tilda Swinton, almost as creepy here as she was in Constantine)and a lion named Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).
All manner of verbal creatures, both four- and two-legged, populate the picture, but the major one is the regal Aslan, who's returned to Narnia to, yes, bring light to the darkness, and warmth to the chill.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Quality: * * * / 4
