Best adaptation yet

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2007)

I love the Narnia books. They are very dear to my heart. So I was very excited when I learned a movie adaptation was in the works.
At first I had some minor worries, such as Georgie Henley's age, Tilda Swinton's blonde hair (in the books, the witch has black hair), the changes to the story, etc. Despite all of that I came out of this movie very happy and satisfied that justice was done to my beloved C.S. Lewis.
Georgie was perfect as Lucy. I know some people criticize her acting abilities but you have to keep in mind this was an eight-year-old girl who'd never done any major acting work before in her life. Given that, I thought she did a very nice job. I can say the same for the other actors as well. Tilda Swinton was a chilling and bewitching White Witch. Jim Broadbent, as Professor Digory was a bit whimsical, but nevertheless quite charming. James McAvoy did a great job as Tumnus with that perfectly clipped British accent. I never would have guessed that he was actually Scottish! And Liam Neeson made for a very warm and believable Aslan.
Allow me to digress for a minute and talk about the amazing CGI work on Aslan. That was something that bothered me in the BBC version-Aslan was stiff and static, not the kind of character I could be instantly attached to. Aslan in this version makes me want to shout "KITTY!" and run up and hug his fluffy head. (But he probably wouldn't like that... He's not a tame lion after all.) And he shows emotion and cracks jokes just like the human actors. It's obvious the writers tried really hard to make even the CGI characters real and believable. (I especially liked how they made the Beavers sound just like a real married couple!) For that I applaud them.
I want to take some time to address some other user's objections to the movie. First, the idea that the movie is clichéd. Nonsense. Narnia was written back in the 1950s and 60s. The ideas may be cliché now but back then they were fresh and original. (In fact, there was no such thing as a fantasy blockbuster back then.) And if you watch the making-of features you'll see that the creators tried very hard to avoid making their movie look like other fantasy movies. (Hard to do considering they shot several sequences in New Zealand, like LOTR, and even had Weta Workshop doing their props and costumes.) That was the reason they made the White Witch blonde. Second, Peter's inability to use a sword is actually quite realistic. He just got that sword a few hours ago, you don't seriously expect him to know how to use it right off the bat do you? And third, the idea that this is just a propaganda film to promote Christianity to children. Sure it is. Because everyone knows Lewis sat down at his desk and thought "Hmm, how can I tell the story of the Gospel in an appealing way to young children?" Not at all. It's a fantasy story first and a morality tale second.
Despite the story changes, this was still the best and most faithful film adaptation of the book I have seen. It was better and more exciting than I expected, and I applaud the creators for a job-well done.
Kudos to you!