Perfectly done!

Rating: 10/10 (10 December 2005)

I remember first reading the Narnia books when I was 7 and I have been waiting for Decades to see a live action film adaptation. I was hoping against hope that this film would do it right and all I can say is thank God for Andrew Adamnson and his team! I know art is all subjective and what one person likes another may hate but from a personal level I have not found a film quite this engaging for a very long time.
It can't be an easy book to adapt to film; It's full of talking animals, the main characters are children and half the cast aren't human. It must have seemed so daunting to try and do it right, but thankfully they have achieved just that.
The children playing the four leads were convincing and emotive; child actors should not be so talented. I really felt like I was watching four completely unique characters rather than four children. Tilda Swinton's White Witch has gone into my list of greatest cinematic villains of all time. A perfect balance between the beautiful and the evil. So menacing and scarily sinister. Aslan felt authentic (even though he was predominantly CGI) and I was moved to tears by some of the more emotional scenes.
Visually it was breathtaking, both in terms of the way it was filmed & edited and in the production design. It was immersing, engaging and wholly magical.
I have even more respect for Adamson and co. for daring to do this after the world of the fantasy epic has been over-shadowed by LOTR. How brave of them to tackle fantasy and battle sequences and how impressive to pull them off so magnificently. Also hats off for finally making a film that uses CGI responsibly (the way it used to be done five years ago) rather than in every shot.
I felt the film was rich in character and ideas but at the same time completely faithful to the book by C.S. Lewis. Although I don't generally like to compare book to film I know many do and rest assured this is a meticulous adaptation.
Ultimately it was everything I wanted it to be and more. It was an ideal bit of escapism that made me laugh and cry. Maybe I was just in with a very responsive audience but they were laughing along with me and cheering throughout the battle as well as giving the film a lengthy applause at the end (this is in a chain cinema remember). So feel free to disagree with me but I thought it was a 10/10 five star film and if it's the same team doing the other six films then I can rest assured they shall be just as magnificent.