Fine fantasy adventure for all the family,and a worthy adaptation of the book

Rating: Null/10 (22 February 2006)

Although sadly considered by quite a few to be just a kid's movie,a kind of juvenile Lord of the Rings {and mind you,what's wrong with that?},this is a terrific fantasy epic that may feature children as the protagonists but is certainly not childish. Whilst C.S Lewis did indeed write his books for children,the makers of this film adaptation of what is not the first but easily the best known book have carefully steered the film away being simply for children to it being a great film for all the family. Of course if you're the sort who would laugh as talking animals and the like,it's not worth you seeing this film,but do you hear many adults say,for instance,The Wizard of Oz is rubbish and just for kids?
Opening dramatically if a little discertainly with planes bombing WW2 London,the film proceeds at a leisurely place,introducing the young protagonists and us to the land and denizens of Narnia gradually,but the pace gradually gets faster and faster until the final battle,an eye-popping sequence featuring more mythical creatures than you can imagine.
Worried readers of the book have nothing to fear,the film is quite faithful and even,dare I say it,improves on the book at times. The children are characterised better,and a few sequences are added in the middle section of the story to bump up the pace. Only one major scene from the book near the end,where a spell is cast and 'things' come to life {I can't say more as I try to avoid spoilers} is disappointing and falls far short of it's potential.
The acting of the children is excellent,although Tilda Swinton gives the stand out performance as the scary but oddly sexy White Witch. The special effects are mostly great. I say mostly,because while the effects team have pulled off a few miracles such as with the talking lion Aslan {a CGI creation so convincing he cane almost be mistaken for a real lion},there is the odd element which appears to have been rushed,such as two instances of DREADFUL back projection {how could they?} and a scene involving a frozen lake and falling ice {one of the 'invented' scenes} which also suffers with poor direction. Al Adamson {of Shrek 1 and 2} sometimes shows his inexperience with live action,although he generally does an okay job.
While the action is conspicuously bloodless,there is quite a bit more darkness in the film than one might expect-very young kids may be scared by things such as the Witch's wolf servants,and the ritual killing of one of the film's characters three quarters of the way through is surprisingly disturbing. Some may even see disturbing sexual elements in the scenes between Edmund and the Witch who is trying to seduce him to what George Lucas would have called 'the dark side'.
Generally though,this is a fine fantasy adventure movie that certainly bodes well for any future films of Lewis' books and,despite complaints to the contrary,is no more 'Christian' then Lord of the Rings. Don't expect Lord of the Rings or,indeed,Harry Potter,and you'll find much to enjoy.