Nicely done

Rating: 9/10 (12 December 2005)

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS (for the tiny minority who haven't actually read the books)
Even after seeing the impressive trailers for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe over the past month or so, I still wasn't quite sure what to expect.
Were the kids going to be any good? Was New Zealand really going to be able to double up as Middle Earth AND Narnia? And could they really manage to stretch out a rather thin book into a two hour plus film? Thankfully, Andrew Adamson and the magicians with WETA have produced one of the best movies I've seen this year. And it's absolutely gorgeous. Although it lacks some of the grandeur of Peter Jacksons LOTR trilogy, the results are actually much better at times - with Narnia becoming a more sumptuous, understated landscape than some of Tolkien's over-the-top world.
And, thankfully, the wonder of the book has been captured perfectly. The early scenes of the Pevensie children being evacuated from Blitz-hit London are heart-wrenching, while Lucy's first discovery of the world inside the wardrobe fills you with as much delight as you got when reading the book as a child. Then when the rest of the family discover Narnia as well....it just gets better and better.
Tilda Swinton is very good as the White Witch - displaying the right kind of frosty malevolence that the role deserves. Inspired casting has seen Ray Winstone and Dawn French provide the perfect voices for the beavers, while Liam Neeson lends more than enough gravitas to Aslan. And, thankfully, the kids are perfect choices for the roles. Instead of their slightly two dimensional counterparts on the Harry Potter series, the Pevensie clan are actually believable as unwilling visitors in Narnia. Peter and Susan are great as the elder siblings on the lookout for the younger sister and brother, while Lucy practically steals the movie at times. And it's nice to see that they managed to pick a suitably moody, sulky Edmund too.
A few minor quibbles aside (an American Maugrim for one, and the lack of real emotion during Aslan's sacrifice at the hands of the Witch), it's the kind of epic fantasy that was sorely missing last Christmas. At times emotional, beautiful and comical it's likely to delight young and old fans alike. Go and watch it.