Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (9 December 2005)

I suppose that loving the books at 7 years of age does not mean you are going to like the film as an adult.
There are a lot of aspects of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that I found very disappointing, not the least being Aslan. From his first appearance the computer generated aspects seem obvious - something odd about the way he moves. Also, they did not manage to solve the problem of how to make him speak and his mouth was quite distorted. I did not like the voice either, myself, though others may love it. Was the film made on the cheap, or was it simply made 20 years too soon?
A number of "enhancements" hindered rather than helped the story. When the children emerge from the Wardrobe, the expressions on their faces and the photography suggest that they have come out into some kind of wintry wonderland, which is overdoing it a bit, as the winter is supposed to be associated with evil. It is not obvious who the old man in the sledge is, as, unlike in the book, he is not wearing a red coat. The crowning at the end owed more to Star Wars than C.S. Lewis. And why did they decide to have Susan moaning about going home all the way through?
Putting in the air raid at the beginning gave some useful background, although the several reminders of the war back home were another innovation, presumably intended to draw a parallel in terms of the fight against evil. Maybe it was also intended to draw a parallel with the fight for oil in Iraq (the airplanes attacking the good guys, the ugly faces of the enemy, who deserve no quarter ...). Hmm, don't go there.
Dawn French gave an excellent voice to Mrs Badger.
I am reviewing this as an adult. I would recommend the film for children under 10 (though I am suddenly a bit worried about its propaganda intentions) but certainly not for grownups.