A fine movie, but a let down. Definitely not as good as I had hoped.

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2005)

I've been waiting for "Narnia" to come out for about a month now. So naturally, I went to see it the first chance I got. It was sold out. So I went to a later showing (which was also sold out) and waited in line for a half hour to get in. I was disappointed by the movie. Probably not worth the $7 I paid to get into it. Sure it's nice to finally have a big screen adaptation of CS Lewis's book, but it could have been done so much better. Not to say this is a bad movie. (The amount of people gushing about how wonderful it is should cancel out that thought) But it's not an amazing movie. It's just a fine movie. An okay one. Allow me to explain.
The number one biggest flaw in "Narnia" is the casting. 3 of the leads should never have been cast in this movie because I can guarantee you that there are better people out there. Characters in point: Lucy, Aslan and the White Witch. Lucy is played by newcomer Georgie Henley. Yes she is very young, but that is no excuse for her to be a bad actor. Throughout the movie, she had this air about her that seemed to say, "Oh! I'm doing this because Andrew Adamson told me to and I'm looking like he told me to look." Chalk it up to inexperience, but that is no excuse. I was so sad to find out that Liam Neeson was doing the voice for Aslan. That was an AWFUL decision. Granted, Neeson is a very good actor. But he is not acting in this movie, he is giving the VOICE for a character. Everyone who has seen a Neeson movie or heard him talk knows that he has a very, calm, gentle and smooth voice that never really changes despite what's going on around him. It isn't the fierce or proud voice that was needed for Aslan. In my opinion, the voice over would have been better if given by someone who had a deeper, richer voice. James Earl Jones, perhaps? They need not have necessarily re-cast the role of the White Witch, but they definitely could have had Tilda Swinton show some more emotion. Yes I understand that her character is cold, but she is most certainly not devoid of emotion. In my opinion, Swinton's performance was very bland. This is not to say that ALL of the performances/voice overs were badly executed - because they weren't. Rupert Everett as the voice of the Fox and Ray Winstone and Dawn French as the voices of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver were quite good. As was James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus. But it is Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell as the eldest Pevensie children that really shine. Skandar is quite believable as Edmund, beginning as a sulky young boy and ending as a quiet young man. Anna does a good job of playing the logical Susan. But it is William who doesn't let down at any point and in my mind, is the best actor in the entire movie. All of their performance's make this movie worth while.
My second, and last, problem with "Narnia" is that it lacks the spice of other book adaptations. ESPECIALLY those of recent years that are adaptations of other beloved series. Namely, the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Both of these series do a magnificent job of staying loyal to the books without being boring and they also do a good job of drawing you into the story. Yes we know that Harry doesn't get killed by Voldemort, but we are still on the edge of our seat, scared that something will happen. This NEVER happened in "Narnia". Andrew Adamson seemed to be saying, "I loved this book as a child and I will not change any of this. Even if it would make my movie better." There are many scenes that could have been cut out or sped up, but they were not and I actually began to grow BORED during the movie. Yes there are the clever moments (okay, clever MOMENT) like at the beginning, with the movie starting with the bombing of London. This drew you in, but you didn't really STAY IN.
All in all, this movie is a fine movie. Nothing special. And yes, there ARE religious undertones in this movie. GET OVER IT. Lewis made it that way and if you don't like the content, don't complain about it. No one is making you watch this movies and if you won't appreciate it, don't bother.