The movie many of us have waited our lives for.

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2005)

SPOILERS THROUGH:
This is going to be a hard movie to review because it will be nearly impossible to keep my objectivity. Let me begin by saying I grew up with this book. I don't remember exactly how old I was when I read it, I just know how much it meant to me and the feelings of childhood magic it produced in me. Through the years, I've read it on occasion and those feelings never fail to be stirred again and again and again. Narnia the movie, is something myself and probably millions of other enamored fans have waited their lives for. I always wondered why this hadn't been done as a major film before and always felt somewhat of a yearning. So finally it was and I saw it yesterday. And it was wonderful.
I think the movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a joy to view. Absolutely captivating and incredibly done. One positive were the special affects, particularly Aslan. I simply could not believe the realism in every last detail, especially the facial expressions. It was almost mind numbing and such a relief when one thinks about what it could have been like.
Mystery, magic, that feeling of timelessness-it was all there, most prevalently at the very beginning, when the words :Presents: "The chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", went up on screen. For anyone who has loved this book and craved a movie version of it, this was not just a moment, it was THE moment. At least for me it was.
The performers were great and it was like meeting old friends (and enemies!). First, All four children were terrific , I never cease to be amazed that people of that young age can act! It's awe inspiring. I'm not going to say any were better then the others, all were great. So was that wacky, Wondercful professor ("what DO they teach them in school these days"?!).
And now we come to the White Witch. Now when this movie was first being made I had heard a rumor (which I don't even know if it was true) that Nicole Kidman was asked to play the white witch. I am a fan so I was very pleased. So much time later, when I heard she was not, in fact, cast as The White Witch, I was a bit disappointed. I needn't have been! Tilda Swinton rocked! She was just fantastic (best supporting actress nod should be hers). She made the part her own in a wonderful way. Swinton was electric, her white witch was spot on and also looked the way the white witch SHOULD look. Kudos!
All the supporting characters-real or otherwise-were great. But I really must mention Aslan again. Liam Nielson's voice was perfect but the facial expressions still amaze me, modern technology is also something worth being in awe of. Also worth mentioning was the great, utterly wonderful musical score.
But most importantly is the fact that this movie was adapted from the book so faithfully. I was amazed by that and by how much of the dialog was verbatim or nearly so. Certain things were exact, other things varied a bit but were for the most part in keeping with the book, though there Were a few things missing that I'd have liked to see (Edmond being knighted by Aslan after the battle was won for one). Overall though, very little varied greatly and that is such a relief and a tribute to the wonderful book and it's brilliant author, C.S. Lewis.
The negatives? None really. I have searched for some, since I do want to have some objectivity. Others have mentioned that it would have been nice to have a narrator, that was something I had thought of too, after seeing it. One because the narrator could have explained some things that the book explained and the movie does not. And second because one aspect to the book that made it so magical WAS the narration of C.S. Lewis. It would have been nice to have a Narrator woven in somehow.
I will say that there is one thing I was a tad bit disappointed in and that is the fact that Narnia, while beautiful, majestic and magical didn't look to me, beautiful, majestic and magical enough. I wanted it to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen-surpassing the cinematography in any movie ever made. It didn't. Although Narnia was beautiful to look at and became more beautiful as the movie deepened, it never blossomed into the most visually beautiful movie in the World. I wanted Narna to look like the magical place of wonder I had in my mind growing up. It did and it didn't. It kind of did but not quite to the extent I would have liked. I was considering giving the movie a 9 because of that and not a 10.
But then I expressed this view to a confidante and fellow movie goer who made an excellent point. That perhaps no movie version could ever be quite that beautiful and magical because it would be competing against a version that didn't come from anything actually seen, but from a child's imagination. And that really is true. All the millions of people who read this book were free to imagine Narnia in any way they wanted. To me, when thinking about it, the movie still deserves a 10 of 10 rating. It really is magic that a story that was told so many years ago, still has remained so loved over the years. The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe meant so much to me as a kid (and adult) and it means so much to me to have seen it on the big screen, a movie for all seasons, rich in story and still as magical as ever.