Empty tale of visual bravado

Rating: 4/10 (4 January 2006)

Narnia isn't the next Lord of the Rings, nor the next Harry Potter, at least on the cinema screen. Even what spirit those fantasy spectacles had, Narnia lacks. And it seems the whole hundreds-plus audience, many of whom were children, agreed with me in their numb, passive state. No yelps of joy, excitement nor even the slightest scare. After the movie ended, both kids and adults were in such a rush to leave, silent and obviously underwhelmed, that some of them missed the tacked-in ending during the credits.
Visually, the movie is a quality work, displaying technical prowess and craftsmanship. You will wonder how they managed to create all beasts from the real world to the mythology, from beavers, panthers and lions to fauns, centaurs and gryphons. There are also some large, captivating sights such as the view of the ice castle and the scene of the final battle. The snow is dubious though, but I guess that is acceptable.
What is not acceptable is the soullessness and joylessness of the rest of actual content of the film. Much of it weighs down upon the main roles the main roles. Georgie Henley's Lucy Pevensie gets a lot of screen time compared to her siblings, which is for the better thanks to her charisma. The rest of three, however, come off as stiff and unnatural, with perhaps more fault to the script and directing than the actors themselves. The children are portrayed as precocious on some occasions, yet unbelievably daft on others. Due to this, the three eldest siblings are thrown quite off balance during the film, and not in the credible way of children, but rather for the goal-oriented purposes of trying to build up suspense and plot where there is none.
Maybe the producers have tried to make a child-centered movie by explaining the obvious, but it feels more like underestimating its young viewers. On the other hand, the deeper questions are left completely unattended, such as the nature of the Great Magic, and the importance of Humans. This leaves the story empty, and creates a soft of befuddlement over the whole movie: what was all the fighting about? Why were the good creatures good and the bad creatures not? Underneath its eye candy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is hollow, and without a soul, the exterior fails to impress alone.