Why did they cast Swinton?

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2015)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could have been a nice little (almost) family movie. The story is not brilliant but OK, there are some likable kids as heroes - although they don't do that much heroic stuff - and there is a lot of magic and special effects for eye-candy. Without thinking too much about it you could just cheer for the kids and enjoy a happy end.
But then there is Tilda Swinton as the white whitch. Although she is stuck in some ridiculous wardrobe and with some borderline ridiculous dialogue, it takes about ten seconds of her mesmerizing performance to make you realize how mediocre all the rest is. When she is on screen everyone else pales in comparison and I found it near impossible to root for the heroes. In some scenes she also projects a villainy that for my taste was well beyond a PG rating. All together her presence was kind of a reality check which is not very becoming for a relatively flat fantasy story.