Bright fantasy

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2005)

With all the pseudo-Gothic dark, twisted and "scary" fantasy flicks now on offer, it's a refreshing and welcome change to have the fun magical brand of Andrew Adamson come to a live action realisation.
And the first installment Narnia is all the twinkling eyed New Zealand director (do we know any other people like that?) could have hoped for in the bid to revive the imaginations of the many so that the Hollywood of the future can make movies and games out of original material.
Narnia unashamedly re-kindles the romance so many have with the fantastical, taking us through the wardrobe in our minds and into an endless and wonderful place. That place is luscious and vivid with colour. It's inhabited by the bubbly, the wise and noble, and even the evil and sinister.
There exists everything from our imagination
--Spoilers from here on--
From talking animals to completely imaginary ones. A Santa Clause who hands out lethal weapons made by Weta Workshop. Fauns, centaurs and cyclops warriors. Massive battles where polar bears and big cats and minotaurs fight against each other.
Oh but not a drop of blood! It's a family movie with Disney writing the cheques, but the rating does not come at a cost to the action, rest assured.
The film will appeal to a wide audience, and deserves it too. Thankfully, it's done with such delightful escapism that whoever watches it is magically transformed into a child. A child that still understands the generous helping of adult-aimed jokes in the side-comments, that is.
This movie will get compared to others of its type, which is only partly fair. I'll try it in brief: LOTR: OK, it's like LOTR for kids and anyone who wants the fantasy experience without a massive and serious emotional bond to the characters. Harry Potter: Potter fans who scream endlessly for "darker" films would do well to be reminded that colourful fantasy is a wonderful thing. This is just the ticket. Oh, and it has a plot other than "time passes and not much of any consequence happens." Shrek: This would be a good comparison. Narnia is certainly more serious, but Shrek's youngest fans will have a new favourite movie.
It's understatement to say Adamson's visionary film does the book justice.
Narnia exists!