beautiful to look at but boring to watch

Rating: 5/10 (17 May 2006)

During the height of the London blitz, four young children are sent off to an estate in the countryside to wait out the war in safety. Ironically, they soon find themselves caught up in a quite different war, one that takes place in a world not their own. For while staying at the house of an eccentric professor, the youngsters discover a magic wardrobe that leads them to a mystical land of centaurs, fauns and a whole host of anthropomorphic creatures - a snow-covered land called Narnia. The kingdom is ruled over by a wicked witch who declared herself queen after she usurped the throne from a benevolent lion king named Aslan, who is amassing a rebel army to help him reclaim it. The children become a part of this epic battle since it has been prophesied that four young humans will arrive some day to bring about the liberation of this benighted kingdom.
Based, of course, on the beloved C. S. Lewis novel of the same name, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" does pretty well in its setting-up stage as the youngest of the four discovers the strange land inside the wardrobe and tries to convince the others of its existence, but once the children become firmly entrenched in the Narnian action, the movie begins to feel too much like a warmed-over "Lord of the Rings" with a lot less action and far less interesting characters. Aslan, in particular, is so drippy and sappy, so full of bromides and platitudes, that we have a hard time getting misty-eyed even when he's heading up the stairs to perform his act of ultimate sacrifice. Speaking of which, the Christian allegory at this point is so heavy-handed and obvious that it ceases to function as allegory and just becomes slavish imitation. And the scene with Santa Claus passing out weaponry and ammunition to barely pubescent children - how is that an acceptable image in a movie meant for youngsters? The film has a beautiful look and design, although some of the special effects shots look surprisingly amateurish and unconvincing for a film of this size and budget. The acting by the children is passable at best, although Georgie Henley, as the youngest child, and James McAvoy as the faun, Mr. Tumnus, do establish something of a rapport in their scenes together. Tilda Swinton as the Big Bad Witch does little but harrumph around the countryside, glaring and snarling.
I realize that both the book and the movie have legions of devoted followers and any attack on either is bound to elicit cries of "sacrilege" and "blasphemy" from the faithful. But, the truth be told, "The Chronicles of Narnia" is a pretty mediocre movie, pleasant to look at but boring to sit through.