WW2 & Christianity too?

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2005)

I admit I've never read the book... But now I do want to check it out very badly!
Tilda Swinden as the White Witch was good especially when she played Gabriel (Gabrielle?) in "Constantine," but this can lead to typecasting as nothing but a villainess!
Whereas Jim Broadbent as the Professor was most intriguing - he played a villain in "Moulin Rouge" and in Jacky Chan's version of "Around The World in 80 Days" and a good guy this time yet each character may seem familiar - each was their own entity... Perhaps he should have been Dumbledore?
Typecasting in the hero section comes with Liam Neeson playing the Qui-Gon Jinn/ish talking lion, Aslan (what a beautiful name), but then he has played the anti-hero Darkman - which was a while ago! Aslan was not exactly messianic to me, he was more John The Baptist-like, in that he tended to presage the children whose visit was foretold...
His laying down his life for Edmund was Christ-like, but more along the lines of John The Baptist losing his head to Salome - yet then there was the resurrection for having faith! He also called on the armies of the dead to help the living army of good, like Judgment Day!
A very intriguing notion using pagan/Greek mythic characters to portray one of Humanity's best theories... Christianity, what a pity we all find it so difficult to practice it!
Using four unknowns as the Pevensies was smart, but their choice for Lucy is a bit off, as she tends to be stone-faced or not sure when to laugh or cry!
However, the choice for James MacAvoy as Tumnus was good, this shows marvelous versatility for the young Scot who played Leto Atreides to perfection in "Children of Dune."
The effects were far superior to Xena to have the Cyclopes, Centaurs, Fauns and Satyrs move with ease and grace! Aslan looked natural when talking, and so did the beavers... Even the Gryphons moved better than in "The Prisoner of Azkaban"!!
As for Maugrim the chief of secret police, he was a truly fearsome wolf and using Michael Madsen's voice made it more effective! I love how the four children of Adam & Eve adopted the tactics of World War II in the fight against the White Witch - using boulders for bombs and Phoenixes as incendiary devices to compensate for lack of numbers!!
This is doing better than the Harry Potter series that is starting to head for a nose-dive in my view, I eagerly await the "King Caspian" and "The Dawn Treader" instalments! This was much better than the cartoon I saw as a child...