Slavishly faithful to the source material, a little perfunctory but mostly pretty good

Rating: 6/10 (9 December 2005)

Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I adored these books when I was in the fourth grade. I am a good deal older and more cynical now, but I recall the books with a great deal of affection. I was wary about the film, both because it seemed like an attempt to cash in on the success of the Potter and LOTR films, and also because the books never seemed particularly cinematic to me (so much of it being things that only make sense from the point of view of a child).
The film opens with shots of German planes in the sky during the Battle of Britain. We're introduced to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy as they go scrambling into the bomb shelter adjacent to their London home. It's a nice touch, a context that is only mentioned in passing in the book but which benefited from a more explicit showing now that WWII has faded from our collective memory. The film then proceeds with the events of the book, matching developments very closely. The four child actors play it all with a very English sort of reserve, which is a nice departure from the "needs their Ritalin" kids of many contemporary films, but it also mutes the sense of wonder sometimes. With the exception of a few moments between the very young Lucy and Tumnus the fawn, the kids accept what happens to them and how their lives are changed with relative nonchalance. They're good, and it's good to watch them as they endure and develop, but they're hard to relate to.
Turning to the ideological content of the film, the Christian metaphor becomes pretty explicit (perhaps even moreso than in the book). It didn't bother me per se, but I can see that becoming an issue for militant atheists. It IS a propaganda piece for the values that C.S. Lewis associated with Christianity at its best, but even as an agnostic I have respect for most of those values. I was bothered somewhat by the strident militancy of the last third of the film. There's a blend of childish awe and violence in the battle scenes that doesn't sit well with me, though to the filmmakers' credit they are just reproducing the tone of the book. But it's such a naive view of war, and it's so bizarre to set up these kids in a setting that plays like something out of Braveheart or Return of the King except with the miracle of no blood being shed. The mixing of violence and innocence, with religious overtones, is fundamentally disturbing to me.
Still, it's a good story well-told, and the filmmakers show a deep reverence for Lewis' writing and tremendous special effects know-how to bring it into motion.