Heavy in prophecy, light on intensity

Rating: 6/10 (14 April 2006)

It could be that Narnia has had to follow up two fantasy hits such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, it could be that the book lacked in fire power, or it could be that the movie just wasn't done that well; but in any case Narnia fell short of expectations. Recently it seems to be en vogue to have children or teenagers playing the leads in fantasy movies (ala Frodo and Harry Potter), but what Narnia failed to do is make these children believable.
There was no transition from these kids' innocence and ignorance into courageous warriors and saviors. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam were never sure of themselves and they constantly exhibited inexperience throughout their goal to save middle earth. Harry Potter was always in need of help and he was not even the best magician in his class. But in the prophecy rich Narnia in which four humans were foretold to save the land, it seems all of the prognostication forced itself upon the somewhat unwilling heroes. First the siblings are bumbling around Narnia trying to stay alive as anyone would do in a foreign land, and then seemingly overnight the older brother is leading a major battle, the other brother is an integral part of that battle, while the two girls develop fearlessness of the foreign woods they are in.
The movie lacked intensity, there were never any white knuckle moments or hair raising events. The dialog was very generic and far from profound though one can infer that it was supposed to be, and the drama was mild even with the fate of an entire mythical land being in the hands of children. This was a kids movie dressed up as an adult one nothing more.