A magical film but.......

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2005)

Filming a book is never easy because a director has no way of knowing what is in your mind's eye. Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is hailed as a great piece of work because although he may have imagined it differently than from you or I he did managed to bring Middle Earth to life and you could believe it exists. So it was with some degree of expectation that the magical land of Narnia would also shine on the screen. Shine it does but not as wonderful as you may hope. The sets are fantastic, the CGI is god-smackingly good and the battle scene is superb. Where the film falls down are on the things you cannot quite your finger on. For starters, Narnia does not seem cold enough during the evil white winter, Tilda Swinton (as Jardis, the White Witch) doesn't seem evil enough , Aslan (although superbly CGI) doesn't seem majestic enough and the film does not seem magical enough if say compared to Harry Potter. The children actors are at times are a little wooden but do a good job. Regardless if you can get over the nit picking it is great film for kids and adults who know the story. Also it was the first film I have seen that added material to the book in a beneficial way without taking too many liberties. More of B+ than a A-. There is cartoon version made in '78 and I would recommend watching that as well if not just for the music which is so perfect for the story and a real shame that this film did not have that cracking soundtrack.