Nicely Done...

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2008)

Face it, after the immense success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter films, it was bound to happen one day when a studio was going to unleash a big-budget adaptation of C.S. Lewis's novels of The Chronicles of Narnia. While not nearly coming close to the epic scale or emotional level that The Lord of the Rings gave its audiences, it is far more magical than the Harry Potter films, and needless to say it is more faithful to the source material than any of Potter's strongest installments. It is a nicely done fantasy for younger kids.
While beautifully shot, to call this an epic is too much credit. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is quite slow in pace, and the scale of the film is too small. It's great for kids, but slightly flawed.
The acting is well done. Everyone is great in their roles, and Tilda Swinton plays the witch so well, we hate her like a living person. It's a lovely cast, that all fit in their roles well.
The special effects are about as good as the work done in The Prisoner of Azkaban. It's okay, though there's points when a little fine-tuning could've resulted in a better execution. The battle at the end of the movie has soaring points, yet the ogres, centaurs, wolves and polar bears all seem lackluster.
Harry Gregson-Williams' score is very disappointing. The guy didn't even do his homework when composing this very drowse-inducing music, not listening to what the music sounded like for The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, and as a result, it sounds nearly the same if the two were combined. Very unoriginal, and the sheer lack of intelligence in the composer has made him one that I will try hard to avoid in the years to come.
The pacing of the film, as aforementioned, is slightly dull. The only rousing moments are the wolves chasing the kids on the icy river, and the final battle between the Narnians and the White Witch's army. The action is nicely choreographed, however, I highly doubt that kids of that age are capable of killing or fighting in battles. Very unrealistic, even for a fantasy. What would've made it more believable, would be if the screenplay writers incorporated some sort of motive, or something endearing that could be lost as a consequence to failure, I mean, even if it's Narnia, the kid's only real connection to anyone are the Beavers and Mr. Tumnus... who I'm sure they could live without in the long run. The lack of screen time and character development allows for fast relationships with Aslan and many of the characters, it's just not likely to fight for someone you've only known for two days. Horton Hears a Who has a stronger message and executed better.
All in all, The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is definitely one of the better films of 2005, after a lackluster summer. I recommend it to kids 12 and under, as older ones will find more interest in The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films.