Good but not great

Rating: 7/10 (17 December 2005)

As a movie it is a good. As a representation of the book it is mediocre. Most of the wonderful words and dialogue from the books are dumbed down in the movie. The beavers, wolves, and Ginarrbrik are especially awful (corny dialogue, badly animated, etc). It seemed like the people who made the movie were not huge fans of the book (they may have liked it, but you could tell that they did not love it).
Visually it was pretty nice (besides some of the animations), but basically, whoever wrote the script needs to be replaced before the next movie comes out. C.S Lewis would have never written some of the crap the actors were made to say in the movie.
Certain small details I enjoyed (never closing the wardrobe door, as is stressed several times in the book...the white stag...etc). The final battle was well done, but the fight between Peter and Maugrim was very anticlimactic. It was well cast...the children and the witch were very well done...though I thought the professor could have been better (he was a bit too goofy).
It definitely could have been better...hopefully in the next one they will get someone who can better interpret the book to a screenplay and ditch the corny dialogue...especially when the original dialogue from the book is so wonderful and strong! The average viewer will most probably like it. Lovers of the book, however, may find some bits lacking...