The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Look, just because some man in a red coat hands you a sword it doesn’t make you a hero!
Susan to Peter, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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

Movie Review

2005 |
Reviewed March 24, 2007
Rating: 3 stars

I had forgotten how much I loved this book as a kid—for that matter, I had forgotten most of the book. The minute Lucy went through the wardrobe, though, it all came flooding back: Mr. Tumnus, the White Witch, the talking beavers, everything. My poor husband had to patiently put up with me bouncing and squeezing his arm and saying, “Ooh, next it’s the wolves! And the stone garden! And Turkish Delight!” There’s something both wonderful and sad about finally seeing one of your favorite books onscreen; wonderful in that your wildest imaginings are finally justified in big-budget images, sad in that they sometimes get it wrong and you realize that you’ll never be able to read that book again without those all-wrong images staining your mind. Visually, I enjoyed the movie; they got most of the scenery spot-on, I think, and I had only a few quibbles with the greenscreen effects. In other areas, however, the movie fell a bit flat; the characters were somehow less compelling onscreen than in print (though this might have to do with the obvious time constraints of a film), and yes, the Christian theme was so blindingly obvious that at times it felt like C. S. Lewis himself was standing over my shoulder, breathing, “It’s a parable, you know, it’s a parable” (though, to be fair, the parable was quite transparent in the book, as well; but at least it was better-written there). I was so caught up in the joy of the story that I forgot to look for the rumored anti-Semitic slurs… which was why, when they did appear, I sat bolt upright and said, “Oh. Oh, no,” and couldn’t decide whether I was more annoyed at the slurs themselves or how blatantly they were presented. Overall, the whole thing seemed a bit defizzed, like a soda that hasn’t been capped tightly enough—still palatable and tasty enough, just not quite as magically bubbly as it used to be. Even if it had sucked ass, however, I’d have to recommend it just for the battle scene — magnificent CGI and a soundtrack that makes you want to stand up and fight for Narnia. That alone would make it worth the rental price.