Enjoyable but not memorable

Rating: 6/10 (19 December 2005)

In my opinion the movie is quite well done, well acted and visually impressive. It was a good diversion that did successfully get me into this fantastical world.
The primary thing I found unsatisfying was with the four protagonists as I can't remember any movie where the main characters do so little and are so unimportant to the unfolding of the story. In my opinion, they are present but not much more.
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein were apparently friends and both LoTR and Narnia were written about the same time. In LoTR the characters constantly make difficult decisions that determine their future, they make significant sacrifices and their strength of character and body are tested from start to finish.
In Narnia, with one significant exception, the characters are lead around from the start to the finish. The meet other characters by chance and each linearly gets them where they need to be next. They are destined for prestige in Narnia before doing anything beyond showing up.
Each of the four kids have interesting personalities but in my opinion at the end of the movie they are all the same undeveloped stereotypes as they were at the film's opening. Having not read the books, I don't know if I would have the same concern there or if the film version sacrifices so much that it is lost. My hope would be that the book does far more in this area.
For such a large budget and classic story I was very surprised that it would lack something so basic to story telling. At least that was my experience with the film.