A very enjoyable fantasy film

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2006)

I highly approve of this fantasy film for young people, and would also recommend it to older fantasy fans with fond memories of C.S. Lewis' memorable series. However, I would urge parents to keep kids under the age of 8 away as the film has some complex themes and a lot of violence.
As a long-time fan of the Narnia books, I was as usual expecting to be under-whelmed by this film from the director of "Shrek", a film I really did not enjoy. But the film is beautifully photographed and is more original and enjoyable than the Harry Potter films, though it is not quite as good as "Lord of the Rings". The child actors, first of all, were astounding. And if you have seen a lot of movies with child actors you know what I mean. Usually they are just ciphers, they just represent something for the adult characters to defend and love. But this film is really about the children, and the director has managed to get performances out of the children that are truly nuanced and alive.
The sense of the fantasy world itself is very fulfilling. This is a film that satisfies the requirements for a faerie tale, and I enjoyed the way the movie used the idea of having Lucy go in first, then Edmund, and finally all 4 children. It really made the contrast between the faerie and the human worlds vivid. The audience is with Lucy 100% and so through her we experience the resistance that "reality" presents when faced with the fey, which is one of the central themes in quality fantasy literature/film (see also "Adventures of Baron Munchausen" for example, or the novel "Don Quixote"). Then when Edmund denies having been there when the audience knows he "really" was, it introduces the aspects of his character that are less than admirable in a believable way, which makes it easier for us to understand why he does side with the White Witch at first.
Speaking of the White Witch, I have to say Tilda Swinton makes this movie worthwhile even if there were nothing else in the film. She is one of the best female villains I have ever seen in a film. If people want to make comparisons to the classic Margaret Hamilton performance in "The Wizard of Oz", it wouldn't be too far out of line. Truly inspired work, she becomes more and more ferocious as she goes on. Unfortunately I don't really think they captured the sense that she was seductive in her early scenes with Edmund, and other than his jealous personality it's somewhat hard to imagine Edmund siding with her instead of being creeped out by her. I don't think that was so much Swinton's fault as how she was directed. This is a very good film but it lacks subtlety on certain levels.
But a fantasy movie doesn't have to be subtle to be great. This film in its best moments truly soars. Aslan's death is handled very well, the scene is appropriately disgusting and the girls' lamentation convincing. Aside from the issue of timing (how did Asland manage to be resurrected, travel across Narnia to the White Witch's castle, breathe on all the frozen soldiers, and then get that army to the fields, all while the battle was taking place?) it is quite effective. The big battle at the end feels a bit too "LOTR", but the minotaurs make a scary opponent and Swinton really pours gas on the fire in that scene. The early scenes with Lucy in the forest with the fawn are perfect. You get that sense of menace from the fawn without any of the ugly implications that might have come with it.
Only minor complaints -- I thought the badger couple had a bit too much of the "shrek" cheeziness in them, and it was inappropriate for mr. badger to call the kid a "blighter". I also thought the "Father Christmas" segment was a bit on the cheezy side. But it does serve its function in the story.
Another aspect of the film which should be commented on is the perfect balance it achieves between allegory and pure fantasy. The film-makers could have chosen to emphasize the religious allegory more, or they could have done some changes in the story to make it even less apparent, but I think they chose wisely to more or less adapt the story exactly how Lewis had done it, which is to leave the allegory in the open but not to push it in anyone's face. That is a harder balance to reach than it might seem and the film-makers should be praised for succeeding.