mesmerising and beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2005)

As a child, I liked the "idea" formed by the CS Lewis books more than the books themselves. This is a case where the movie has vastly improved on the original book. A big plus, is that the clunky, almost preachy Christianity of the books has been smoothed out and toned down. Aslan now "could" be a Christ figure as much as he "could" be an Osiris figure or any one of a number of mytho-religio figures who have triumphed over death. The pagan atmosphere has been ratcheted up a bit. This is just simply "The Other World".
I watched this on a gigantamoose. floor to ceiling screen with state of the art projection. The imagery and color schemes were so powerful that at times I was sure I had entered a Dream.
Strangely, as the film began with the London war scenes, as the faun played panpipes to the tea-sipping Lucy, as Father Christmas doled out his "tools not toys", and in many other places I wept inexplicably.
Tilda Swinton's albino viper/Snow Queen of a White Witch struck terror into my heart at EVERY appearance. One's never sure where she'll strike (waaaay beyond the book's characterisation) And Aslan . . . was fur ever furrier? Didn't I want to run my hands through his marvelous mane and hug his leonine neck for protection? Sometimes, the film "lapses" but these are "breathing spaces" rather than "faults" A children's film? No. A learned child will "appreciate" it but only a 50 year old child (like the author of this review) will know what it takes to "love" it: Passing Time's bittersweet loss and the cost extracted for passage through a magic wardrobe.
Kudos to all involved --- Ya' done Good!