Christian propaganda, part 1

Rating: 3/10 (29 December 2014)

Every year during the holiday season at the end of December, I search for a christmassy movie to watch. This has more to do with a cosy and magical atmosphere than actual Christmas spirit, which I couldn't care less about. Mostly I choose for something I've watched before; a Chaplin film, the original Tolkien trilogy or the Harry Potter series for example. This year I made the mistake to watch the three Narnia adaptations. What a mess! Just like Tolkien before him, C.S. Lewis was inspired by Christianity, but unlike Tolkien the Christian symbolism in Lewis' novels is not subtle, nor used as a mere background for the struggle between good and evil. The Narnia novels and movies are pure Christian propaganda. This makes them reprehensible because of that very fact, but as works of art or entertainment they aren't much better. You may forgive the awful childish acting in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because it can be seen as endearing. You may understand the absence of blood in the action sequences because it is a necessity for an "all ages" rating. But as a director you can anticipate on those things. And not, like in this movie, give unbelievable lines to those young actors and make them go around slashing and stabbing without any drop of blood to be seen. Result: zero credibility. The first in the Narnia series doesn't even begin to compare to wonderful fantasy films like Stardust, Bridge to Terabithia, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings or even The Golden Compass (which was according to some, probably righteously, an atrocity compared to the book - but as a movie it stands head and shoulders above this Narnia crap). Given the epic imagery, soundtrack and dialogue it nevertheless aspires to be exactly like them. Unfortunately, the only thing epic about this movie is its fail.