Wonderful!

Rating: 9/10 (14 December 2005)

It's nice to see that since the dawn of the 21st century we have experienced a renaissance of sorts in the fantasy film genre. Ever since Peter Jackson unleashed Lord of the Rings on the world, things have been going well. And what better follow up to Tolkien's masterpiece than his friend C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia?
When I first saw the trailer, I was somewhat skeptical about the future of this film (even though it was a nice trailer). I was afraid it would be some thrown-together movie to follow in the footsteps of LotR, with pretty visuals and eye-candy but a butchering of the story (I'll admit here, that I have not read more than a few pages of the book, but considering the popularity and age of the stories, I do not doubt the quality of the material contained therein). Fortunately, I was wrong. This movie excels in many ways, and in some ways, even surpasses LotR in terms of entertainment. Considering my devotion to all things Tolkien, this is a major achievement :)
First off, all the actors are great. One thing I've noticed with movies like these is that child actors can make or break a movie. Too many times kids are thrown into a movie to be 'cute' but their acting is just nauseating. Not so here. Each of the kids conveys a sense of realism in their role, keeping it low-key when needed and bringing in the emotion at the right points. The White Witch, like her kingdom, is cold and cruel, and the iciness of her stare says as many words as her deep, hard voice. Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson, is perfect. Coming right off the heels of Batman Begins (in a villain role), he comes off as kind and understanding, yet proud and majestic, as the Lion King of Narnia. Still, at 130 minutes, the movie still feels a bit too short. It takes a while before all the kids even enter Narnia, and then things kind of roll from there.
As I have said, I have not read the books (yet), but from what I've heard, it stays remarkably close to the books, which is good, as I had some beefs with the changes Jackson made to the LotR movies (I admit, some were necessary, but not all). I shall have to read Lewis' works and see for myself.
So, at any rate, if you are a fan of the Narnia books, or just classic fantasy in general, you have to see this movie. Movies like this show that we have indeed come a long way since the days of Dragonslayer and Clash Of The Titans. With good acting, a solid story, and great effects, this is one of the greatest movies of 2005.