A nice addition to the fantasy movie family

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2006)

There are two fantasy movie series which Narnia can be compared to and they are, of course, Harry Potter and Lord Of the Rings. Of those two I'd go a bit more towards Potter than LOTR, as the film clearly was aimed towards younger audience than LOTR. But what comes to over all appearance of the film it goes heavily towards LOTR.
My opening babbling doesn't mean, that Chornicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would be a clear copy and mix of the two. The story elements are there: the growth of children to become heroes of Narnia, the fears of children in war. But the execution of the film differs, as Narnia relies on Christian thematics and morals in its story line.
I recently read the book before seeing the film, and I can say, that the book is more blatantly religious than the film, tough the main elements are present: daughters of Eve, sons of Adam, Aslan, the Judas theme etc., but they aren't so heavily underlined as they were in the book.
The story has gone under some changes, even tough it's pretty faithful to the book in general. It's just the fact, that the book is rather short and some things aren't explained. Lewis had the knack of just skipping some elements and going somewhere else. Now the film begins with raid over Britain, where we see the reason why the kids are sent away from London and the bombings of the German troops. There are some adventurous scenes added in the middle of the story, but other than that the film is pretty accurate display of the book.
The most thrilling thing in the film is magnificently made Aslan, voice by Liam Neeson. It's both real and surreal at the same time, just like the other animal characters of the film. But it's the Aslan who stands out the crowd.
I was pleasantly surprised with the film, as I didn't expect to like it very much, but I did. I, at first, doubted the length of the film, as the book wasn't that long, but the direction, acting, special effects and over all looks of the film keep the viewer entertained to the end. A solid fantasy film, which will get a sequel very soon if the signs are to be trusted.