Outstanding Book Adaptation

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2005)

Children's fantasy is a most difficult genre to adapt for the screen, because the agendas of book and screen are so different. Fantasy allows such swift and non-rational changes that capturing it on a movie screen is much more difficult than painting the pictures in your head with words.
Even with all the nice trailers, hype and good reviews, I went to see this with no small amount of trepidation. I first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe about 40 years ago, and I've probably read it more than a dozen times since then. I was afraid that no amount of skillful CGI could make a convincing Aslan. More than that, I was afraid of a Disney-fied movie that washed out the messages in the movie, or included propaganda for various causes.
I was wrong. This film succeeds in bringing Narnia to life beyond my wildest expectations. Aslan is believable, as is the witch.
Most wonderful of all, however, is what they have done with the plot: almost nothing. There are quite a few changes in things for flow, but not a single one significantly affects the the story. No wonder, with a member of the Lewis family watching over every word and every scene. (I'm sure there will be "purists" who will scream because the beavers look like real beavers instead of furry people who wear clothes, who object to other little things as well, but who nevertheless missed the movie.) I can't judge how someone who has never read the Narnia books would read it, because they are written too deeply into my soul to set aside. I think those who had not read the books would nevertheless love the movie, but I cannot be sure. If you have read the books and wondered if the movie is up to the books, wonder no more.
It is possibly the best book adaptation I have ever seen. The Lord of the Rings was an excellent adaptation, but it took a lot of liberties with the characters and plot. I think, on the whole, the adaptations were good, but there were several places in that most excellent trilogy where the characterization changes bothered me. Not so here.
These are indeed the beloved characters and story from the book.
Don't miss this film. Go see it in the theatres, if you can.