Where is the magic?

Rating: 6/10 (18 December 2005)

First up, I know the Narnia stories. I read them first in primary school, and I read them to my children when they were young. I have also read much of Lewis' other writings, as well as Tolkien's and know about their gentle rivalry. The upshot is that Peter Jackson did a better job with Lord of the Rings than Adamson has done with the first of the Narnia chronicle, and I think it's because Lewis' writings were simpler - naive even - whereas Tolkien created an entire world, languages included.
But the lack of spark transcends Lewis' material. There is no magic. Everything seems to proceed in an almost nonchalant way. I went with my daughters, and we were all a little underwhelmed. It didn't excite us, it didn't get our pulses racing, and we shed not a tear at the scenes that were clearly intended to do so. Yes we know the stories well, but we knew the LoTR story even better, and it grabbed us.
Finally, some of the scenes may not be appropriate for the intended younger audience.
All in all, an OK adaptation, but as one daughter commented, the BBC adaptation was less technically sophisticated but ultimately better.