Disappointing interpretation of a classic

Rating: 3/10 (9 February 2007)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was a classic fantasy book before the current Harry Potter mania and remains one today. I have fond memories of immersing myself in the world of Narnia benevolently looked over by the all powerful lion king Aslan. I had previously seen an animated interpretation of the story which was admirably done and enjoyable so was looking forward to seeing what could be done with the wonders of modern CGI.
Unfortunately I was disappointed by the end result. The 4 key child actors were very wooden and seemed more intent on getting their proper British accents right than on making their characters believable. The CGI distracted from the story rather than added to it and looked very tacked on in a number of places, most noticeably the fox.
Compared to other recent interpretations of classic books, LOTR and the Harry Potter series, this movie falls far short and does not do justice to the wonderful source material. I'm not sure if there are plans to develop this into a series but, on this showing, I hope the producers decide to leave the other Narnia classics to live in our imagination rather than drag them kicking-and-screaming to the screen.