Imagery succeeds; screenplay fails.

Rating: 6/10 (9 December 2005)

Visually, it is stunning. Technology has finally allowed film to approach, if not equal, the images we form in our heads while reading fantasy novels. Unfortunately, what is gained by the spectacular imagery is lost by the screenplay. Though the film occasionally falls victim to the hyperbolic theatrics that Hollywood so loves, the most disappointing factor is the failure of the adaptation to integrate fluidly Lewis' theology. C.S. Lewis' greatest accomplishment in the book series is his adroit and nuanced amalgamation of theology into the story. In the film, it seems like a secular story with Christian theology awkwardly (and overtly) wedged in between plot points. Standing alone, the imagery is magnificent, and the story is engaging; compared to the book, the film adds nothing and takes quite a bit.