An excellent children's movie--thank God they are believably English.

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2005)

I went into this movie not wanting to like it. I know the Narnia canon from front to back and, after seeing some disappointing changes made for The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, I didn't want my vision of Narnia to be tainted. But the reviews for this film were so strong that I gave in and paid my six dollars to see it. And it was excellent. For once the filmmakers (writers, really) have not taken license with the story but have instead just pared it down a little to make it fit into a timeframe. It was the CGI stuff that put me off in the previews but it didn't look too bad. I mean, occasionally it made me cringe (the fox) but on the whole it was not terribly distracting.
Tilda Swinton, as the witch, steals this movie. She is not a typical Disney villain--she is a bad-ass, and while watching I remembered that, after all, she is Jadis, the warrior goddess from another world, and it seems that the writers remembered that, too. The characters in this film have older memories of Narnia: memories that go beyond the Pevensies' experience. There are enough pointed looks and loaded answers to make sure that we, the audience, are aware of their significance. The costumes and makeup in this movie are outstanding--better than Lord of the Rings, I think. The only thing I found slightly amiss was that, as per Pauline Baynes's illustrations, I had always envisioned the witch as a brunette, but she looks so totally cool otherwise that I am not complaining.