Satan's Luau

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe REVIEW: B+

It had been so many years since I read the book, much like LOTR, that I saw it pretty much blank slate with no preconceptions other than to know the plot in really broadbrush form.

I have to say that the movie really works as a nice, compact version of a very elaborate tale (that requires a ton of imagination to render when you read it, much less view it). There was not much clockwatching on my part, the story flows pretty well after a clunky WWII start to place the characters where they need to be. Actually towards the end, I began to watch the clock a bit as I wondered how they would wrap it all up in two hours and change.

I know that some had a hard time with the movie because of the inevitable comparisons to LOTR. Actually, I was pretty surprised at myself that I did not really draw such comparisons, and I think it was because of the effective use of scope in the movie. In LOTR, there's a great sense of vastness, distance, etc. ... and ultimately had more time (one hour more, to explore subplots and minor characters). Narnia is directed from a very managed perspective ... almost as if it captured that elusive sense of what is a child's dream or imagination like, boundless yet in a manageable way (like someone had put a glass over the world) ... so the focus from the four kids perspective is perfectly fine. And, does it suck you into its world? I thought it did a good job of that

In general, I thought the performances were quite good. The only nitpick I had with it was the at-times painfully obvious Qui-Gonization of Aslan -- it really was nails on the chalkboard to me, and the only thing that really distracted me from the ride I was on. Tilda Swinton does a real good job as the White Witch ... there were some points where I did wonder briefly whether she was trying to go for evil or psycho, but that's neither here nor there, really

And I can't really comment in depth about whether the movie captured the novel well ... it has been nearly 25 years after all, since I read it. All I can say is that key moments in the story that I can remember were well done, much as I poorly remember them. I was afraid that due to time constraints in the end that certain things would come off forced or rushed ... but I don't know whether to credit the editing, or the simple elegance of how they handled the key moment of the story, it really did work and was quite emotional

I found it interesting that in the run up last week that a lot of media, right wing talk, and pop mags were really focusing in on whether this was like a POTC but with animals and kids. I would have to say that no, it is not. However, I think that if you wanted to view it from the perspective of a Christian believer, it is there for you to take in ... and have your own personal and emotional reaction to it.

I say this, because the movie resonated with me during certain points at a gut level. But if the question is, is it overtly Christian in tone ... no, I don't think that it is, but it is based on noble human principles that are present in its theology. The bottom line is that it is entertaining, and if the viewer finds spirit in it, then I think that's probably based on their own personal interpretation and experience with the movie.

Visually, it is not as epic as LOTR, but for most of the movie it does not try to be. There are a few points where the green screen effect is really obvious like a 1960s Frankie and Annette surf and beach movie. I guess to illustrate my earlier point about scope, in LOTR environments are very important to give context to where on the journey things are ... in this case, it was there and was used as a minor plot device, but pretty much the background remained the background.

For the action scenes, again the camera was pretty much pulled in tight, with a few large shots interspersed. It was almost counter to the LOTR style, particularly in ROTK. So I guess what I am saying here is that the final battle did not feel as epic to me. However given the focus of the movie as a whole, I can understand why it was cut together that way ... and I must say that it is coherent and supports the story, so I'm not really quibbling with it as much as to think through what I thought about it. And the action is very A-Team, mostly bloodless and without dire consequence.

And lastly, I know that everyone looks at Disney and thinks, hey I can bring my kids to it, no problem. Well, there were more than a handful of under-8s in the audience ... and they didn't take some of it too well. The WW and the wolves are pretty scary, and the death of Aslan is pretty heavy with disturbing imagery (even for me) ... and of course there are other points in the movie which might go by the boards for everyone but the very young

For what it was and for the limited time frame they used, I felt that Narnia was very entertaining ... not perfect by any means, but a very credible and solid effort ... our evaluation: B+