Is this mass hysteria? Did I see the same movie?

Rating: 3/10 (11 December 2005)

(if you have no knowledge of the story ahead of time this may be a tad confusing)
I really don't see where everyone is so sold on this film. Even Ebert has lost his mind. People are giving this the grades of Shawshank and Empire Strikes Back when it had sooooo little value. I refuse to believe people have them on the same curve, much less the same universe.
I'm curious to see where exactly this movie succeeded.
Visually? No! They saved all their cash for the obviously expensive CGI trip at towards the end and everything else was a soap opera sound stage, but with less humanity and realism. Terribly claustrophobic, I at no point got to see anything that made me think Narnia was more than a few feet and a football sized battlefield.
Directing? heck no! Would someone please tell the High King to stop holding his sword like a remote control? If you're going to try and make young actors cry .. you need to at least put some saline in their mouth or something .. I mean come on... what do you want? Lucy had to cry like 5-6 times not one of them made me feel anything but pity for the young actress forget the part she's playing.
Writing/story? Come on.. For those that have seen it, was there really much of a story at all? no .. straight up no. All the thought provoking visual dialog between the kids was cut out. Just about any device to make Narnia real was cheapened. To quote one critical review I read that is right on the money "I kept waiting to be transported right through the credits."
I'm not saying there weren't any good parts. They have interesting beats with the beavers and a fox. I really thought some magic was going to happen in an early exchange Lucy has with the Faun Mr. Tumnus. But, it didn't deliver and neither did this film Not by a long shot.