Always a King

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2005)

First, Tilda Swinton was extraordinary as Jadis. She was terrifying yet gorgeous in a way that reminded me a bit of Alice Krige as the Borg Queen. She is an actor with magnificent screen presence which was well-exploited by Adamson. The young talents were all quite good too. Georgie Henley (Lucy) was adorable and William Moseley (Peter) was very strong too.
The photography is terrific. I had to look up Donald McAlpine but I wasn't surprised to find that he also shot Peter Pan and Moulin Rouge which both looked amazing to me. It was just mythic, epic and magical enough to be perfect for the subject matter. I'd very much like to review the BBC's 1988 version because I have a vague idea that Adamson and McAlpine borrowed a couple of shots directly from it which is kind of cool.
I think C.S. Lewis would have been happy with the creature designs and the CG animal characters. They certainly capture the spirit of the words he wrote. It's all about the titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil and in good Christian-fashion, most of what's evil is ugly. Though it's rather obvious what is CG and what isn't they did a good job at making the creatures fit into the world with the actors. Hair and fur are one of the most difficult things to replicate and they had tonnes of it to do here. I think it turned out rather well. A few of the CG shots could have been replaced by puppets or animatronics to give a more realistic look but overall, I was happy with the balance.
The Chronicles of Narnia inspire me. They are collectively one of the greatest volumes ever written in English or any other language and I am thrilled that they are being brought to the silver screen in such a grand fashion. For Andrew Adamson's first live action film this is an incredible achievement. I can't say I loved Shrek but Adamson was clearly as inspired as I by Lewis' writing. It shows in the filmic tribute he has created. Well done.
One final note, the music in the film is wonderful. There seem to have been a few composers involved and they all deserve congratulations. Also, the credits feature a couple of beautiful songs by Imogen Heap and Alanis Morrisette. In a time when I've more or less stopped buying CDs, I can't wait to get my hands on this one.