Disney Cashing in and Then Some.

Rating: 4/10 (2 January 2006)

Peter Jackson's Masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy opened a flood gate of fantasy ripoffs and wannabes. Disney's Narnia is no exception. When the storyline is not paralleling a biblical narrative it glosses over any attempt at fleshing out any of the characters, who are two-dimensional at best. The only exception is Tilda Swinton's White Witch character. One of the best scenes is the Pagan sacrifice ritual, where I was able to feel something other than the movie's sugarcoating on my teeth. The movie is beautiful to watch. And given a chance, the remaining cast seem capable of creating memorable characters. I like the beavers, too; the female beaver's voice is none other than the enjoyable and funny Dawn French from the Vicar of Dibley and French and Saunders. Otherwise this film's main achievement is to help boost Disney's revenue at the end of a lackluster year for the film industry. I dread to think that there will be six more of these Disney interpretations of C.S. Lewis' Narnia Series.