A very promising beginning

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2005)

Before Harry Potter made his appearance, there was another fantasy series people (not just children) all over the world loved, and still love: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.Lewis. Now the saga has been successfully transferred to the screen (an attempt had already been made on TV in 1988-1990, but the result, while faithful to the book, was rather annoying).
Based on the first volume in the series (it's actually the second if you follow the suggested reading order, but the first Lewis wrote), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells the story of the four Pevensie siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, who have to leave their home in London during WWII and live in Professor Kirke's (Jim Broadbent) huge mansion. It is there that they find the titular piece of furniture, which will lead them to Narnia, a magical world inhabited by all kinds of creatures: talking animals, fauns, centaurs, and of course the great lion, creator and king of Narnia, Aslan himself (voiced by Liam Neeson), who reveals to the children their arrival has been foretold and anticipated for years, as they're supposed to help him defeat the White Witch (Tilda Swinton), who has cursed the entire enchanted world with an everlasting winter. It's all gonna be a huge adventure, part Harry Potter (the kids who are introduced to another world and find out they are "chosen ones"), part Lord of the Rings (the epic battle between good and evil).
Okay, let's calm down with the "epic battle" bit. As visually mesmerizing as it may be, it suffers from the camera being a little prudish and looking away in the crucial moments. After all, we're talking about a PG feature, but come on: we're in the 21st century and this is actually the darkest opus in the saga (alongside The Silver Chair). They have even added a sequence which wasn't in the book to make the story more dramatic.
That said, this wonderful movie doesn't seem to have any significant flaws, except the fact that some of the CGI wolves look a little bit too fake. The other beasts, however, look fine, and their voices are provided by a bunch of talented people: Ray Winstone's Mr.Beaver (and spouse) perfectly serves his purpose as the funny sidekick and Rupert Everett's turn as Fox makes it pretty clear why said animal is the symbol of unreliability, while Neeson's Aslan is the wise and kind mentor/father figure, in the same league as Richard Harris'Dumbledore and Ian McKellen's Gandalf. On the human side, Swinton is the standout as usual, proving you don't need excessive make-up to be a threatening presence. She is a very worthy villain for this film. The kids are good too, the quality of their acting increasing as the story goes on (lucky for us the movie was shot in chronological order).
As for the Christian subtext everyone's been talking about, it is present but you don't have to interpret the film that way if you don't want to. Just consider it a hugely exciting fantasy outing and you'll be satisfied.
So, after this remarkable experience, will the other six books be turned into movies as well? To paraphrase Professor Kirke, keep your eyes open...