Okay but not great (spoiler)

Rating: 5/10 (21 December 2005)

I thought the ambiance was great, both before the children arrive in Narnia and after they get there; the casting of the children and other characters, looks-wise, was also excellent. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch was the best thing about the movie.
The efforts to provide psychological credibility were not convincing--perhaps the screenwriters should have focused on the plot and the pleasures Narnia offers, such as great food, more, as the books do. Peter and Susan were a bit wooden; Edmund and Lucy better. (May not be their fault--Edmund and Lucy have better parts.) Although much has been made about the decision to "allow" Susan to fight in the battle as an advance toward gender equality, I was bothered by the pervasively dismissive attitude toward women and the "lesson" that patriarchal order must be maintained at all costs. Mrs. Macready is needlessly bitchy; Susan is depicted as a whiner and a nag; Mrs. Beaver is insulted by her husband repeatedly and not acknowledged as the wonderful motherly and capable personality she is in the book--the books did not betray their misogyny so openly. Some of the things added to the plot, such as the direct pursuit of the children and the beavers by the WW and the entirely gratuitous icy river scene didn't do much for me; I wish, though, that more had been done connecting the beginning in London during the Blitz with the events in Narnia.
The conclusion was a bit choppy and too much time was spent on the battle, for my taste. Also too many echoes of Lord of the Rings (movie) there for it to feel original and independent.