Hide and Seek, Anyone?

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2005)

A little game of hide and seek can be surprising. Four English children are sent to a countryside mansion during World War II to escape the bombings. While there, they discover, through playing a game of hide and seek, a way to visit Narnia through a wardrobe. Narnia proves to be a parallel world undergoing a crisis similar to that which faces their own world. The plot then takes several fairy tale like turns including the delightful faun, a whole menagerie of charming animals who talk like humans, a scary witch queen, centaurs, and finally a medieval battle similar to those found in the Lord of the Rings. But, C.S. Lewis clearly intends to use this story to share his heartfelt theology of grace, to which he devoted much of his life. Of course, Aslan the Lion is used to represent Christ the King in this parallel world. And Aslan, like Christ, is the real meaning of sacrifice and resurrection in Narnia. So, C.S. Lewis shares again, in effect, the miracles of meekness, prophecy, grace, suffering, and glory of the Gospel in this fresh story of triumph. Mere Christianity is not so mere, after all. Meanwhile, the animation of this film is nothing short of breathtaking while the script and actors are all first rate, even the talking beavers.