Entertaining and generally worth the watch

Rating: 6/10 (14 January 2006)

Having not read the book, I cannot comment on how true to it this motion picture version is. Being that The Chronicles Of Narnia are regarded as literature classics much in the same esteem as The Lord Of The Rings and such like, I would estimate that there have been some changes to the narrative as it didn't grip me as much as The Lord Of The Rings did and thus as much as I was expecting.
With regards to this, I found how Edmund's initial betrayal of his brothers and sisters a little inconceivable. I was expecting it to transpire that he was brain washed or under some spell from the Witch. Alas in the film, this wasn't the case and the motives for his treachery weren't revealed, save from the fact that he was picked on by his brothers and sisters and the promise of Turkish Delights.
Many of the interactive dialogue sequences between the 4 children became noticeably unnatural on several occasions. Party aided by some slightly wooden acting, if I may be so bold as to suggest. If these lines are true to the book, it would seem that C.S. Lewis didn't have a knack for inventing natural interaction of siblings. But that is perhaps for me to find out should I ever read the book from which this film is based.
How 4 children can blossom into swash buckling heroes, willing to lay down their lives and become rulers of a land they know little about, disregarding their home world and origins in the space of a few days (as the time line is not established) was also a little difficult to comprehend, even in a fantasy setting.
But none the less, I am not going to harp on about the things that a feel were bad about this film as the vast majority of it was excellent. It is very entertaining boasting fantastic performances from Tilda Swinton portraying the Evil White Witch and Georgie Henley as a very adorable Lucy. The video and audio effects are incredible and the battle scene is very intense and reminiscent of the Pelennor fields battle from The Return Of The King though no way as gruesome.
I enjoyed it very much and recommend it for anyone that has a pallet for fantasy movies and stories.