Masterpiece!!

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2005)

What an experience!! One of the BEST fantasy films I've ever seen!! To sum up what I feel about it: Things I didn't really like (but didn't hinder my enjoyment of): Some of the CGI was just shoddy, and being made by WETA and for the money they spent, there's something amiss to that.*ponders* It was TOO SHORT!!! I felt like it needed At least another hour to finish what it started, and GAWD we could have used it considering how good it actually was. I mean I loved these characters and I wanted to get more out of them. What's worse is I feel they used the fact that it was so short to skimp on a few things, and that's just a shame. And I'm not necessarily talking about things straight from the book, I'm just talking about character development and interaction...because you could TELL these characters adored each other so much they just LONGED to have more time together.
The cinematography could have been better, and the editing could have been tighter.
Again these things didn't interfere with my love of the film, I just think these things could have made a really good movie--GREAT! One last gripe...there seemed to be an almost lackluster inattentiveness to detail, and that bothers me again since this comes from WETA...WETA can and HAS done better! And I think Disney was really pressing them for time, and that's a shame, because what they COULD squeeze in was MAGNIFICENT!! Things I bloody ADORED!!: Ummmm ALL OF IT??? REALLY, some of it was impossibly beautiful and had the potential to be...transcendent.
TUMNUS TUMNUS TUMNUS TUMNUS TUMNUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okies I could have withstood another 4 thousand hours of Tumnus FOREVER!! He was the GOD of Narnia (to me) and I can't speak my praises of him anymore. He was charming, haunting, charismatic, eerie, simple, complicated, angsty, sweet, humble, loving...so many other adjectives. He really is my favorite character, and to be honest I think he was better in the film than Lewis even wrote him.*adores* EDMUND!!!! GUH! He was everything I'd hoped, but perhaps not as nasty as in the books. He was truly a lonely and hurt little boy who just missed his Father very much, and children often misbehave when they are hurting. I think the film truly allowed us to extend great sympathy for his character and I think that's grand!! Jadis/Aslan-I'm putting them together because I think they both sort of blend together what Narnia is about. There was something more ancient and powerful and archetypal than even Lewis himself ever realized in their characters. I'm not discrediting that it's a Christian fairytale, that was made clear enough...But Christianity is based on older religions, and whether Lewis tried to or not, the truth and power of those ancient religions come through the strongest from these two characters. I loved Jadis's fire, as frozen-hearted as she was, her need to win went beyond desire...It was all that really mattered to her, because that was the way it was meant to be, and she could not escape herself. Aslan's sacrifice was the same. He couldn't escape that older innate truth anymore than Jadis could, and that truth is What must be MUST be. It's the oldest truth there is, and in the end it's the only one that really matters...The King/God/Savior MUST die, and there must be ONE to kill him. No matter the reason and no matter the myth, it is just the way the universe works, and Lewis just happened to understand this. That said Tilda was ASTOUNDING and she radiated her own kind of beauty, a cold and isolated loveliness that was truly magical, she was as tender as she was cruel, and as ruthless as she was apprehensive...It was a privilege just to see her act. Liam as Aslan was JUST as astounding and his voice just resonated wisdom, so much so that had Aslan spoken to me I could not help but respect him utterly, and he truly did look like REAL lion! The rest of the Penvesies: GUH these kids were so great! Peter was lacking for the first half of the film...but when Edmund fell, you could SEE the ferocity in his eyes, and THAT's what I wanted to see in Peter-wonderful! Susan was just a lovely lovely girl and had such a knowingness to her, plus she's pretty darn good with a bow and arrow! Lucy was Lucy, and that's a good thing, and she was such a pure spirit of all girlhood, and I felt like I was experiencing through her those feelings I had as a little girl, something I had desired to feel for such a long time.
The Ending...Awesome stuff!! The crowning was good, but Aslan leaving and that little "talk" between Lucy and Tumnus was BETTER!! Then the stag hunt with the four adult Penvesies was TO DIE FOR!! When I buy the DVD I'm going to have that on instant replay for weeks, it was just the most wondrous thing in creation. It wasn't even that they were beautiful and perfect, THEY WERE THEMSELVES!! I could totally believe they were those same four actors all grown up! I wanted that scene to last forever, and I didn't ever want them to go home.*worships Adult!Penvesies* To say the least I can totally and honestly admit that it was MORE than I'd ever hoped for, and that some of it was SOOOO right, that I could disregard most of it's failures. Bad CGI?? Who cares! It was the story Lewis wrote, and what else matters??? I truly feel I've been to Narnia and back!