Hollywood cardboard!! *SPOILERS*

Rating: 1/10 (4 June 2006)

I am a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia (the books), I read them when I was a little kid. I just watched the movie on DVD and was appalled at the way the makers of this film turned the books into Hollywood cardboard.
For one thing you don't like/empathise/sympathise with the characters, because it is all just too easy. There is no going hungry in the woods, or anything that makes you feel as if getting through this adventure is a struggle. Or that shows the characters actually growing... in the book, this was not the case. By the time they are crowned or whatever, I was thinking to myself that this was totally stupid, they had not really done anything in the movie to deserve being crowned. Without the struggle & growth that is presented int he books, you wonder to yourself, "what is the point???".
The logic was much better in the novels as well - for example, in escaping from the beavers' damn they don't go down a tunnel or cross a river. They leave before the wolves get there, and because of heavy snows their tracks and scent are hidden from the wolves. They hide in the woods overnight, cold and hungry, while the wolves move on.
In my opinion the character Aslan should have been narrated by someone like Ian McKellan, because Neeson had way too high a voice and no 'presence'. You just didn't believe that Aslan was this all-important being who was around way back when the "deep magic was written".
The special effects were good. And I liked the way Mr. Tumnus was portrayed. That's just about the only aspects of the movie I liked.
Sure, it could be mildly entertaining if you hadn't read the books... but if you have I don't understand how you could enjoy this film. THUMBS DOWN.
I could go on and on for another hour about the different ways I was disappointed with this film. But I think you get the idea.