Family Friendly Fantasy Film

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2007)

The new family-friendly fantasy movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (*** out of ****) qualifies as ideal fare for children that combines dazzling state-of-the-art computer-generated visual effects with 'live' human characters in an imaginative, action-packed fable teeming with talking animals and an evil witch. Irish-born author C. S. Lewis penned this children's classic back in 1950 about a quartet of kids who entered a fanciful land of adventure through the portal of a wardrobe in an empty room. Basically, a wardrobe is a piece of free-standing furniturelike today's closetsthat serves as a storage facility, here a place to hang winter overcoats. Imagine stepping into a closet and finding a whimsical world on the other side where woodland critters as well as fairy tale creatures can speak and where a villainous witch battles for supremacy for an enchanted kingdom, and you'll have a fair idea what to expect from "The Chronicles of Narnia."
Earlier, in 1988, the British Broadcasting Company produced a TV mini-series version of "Chronicles." The people who made that 169-minute adaptation didn't deviate a notch from the printed page. Nevertheless, that largely faithful rendition suffered from shoddy special effects that amounted to the equivalent of a children's stage play with humans traipsing about in over-sized, idiotic animal costumes, supplemented with some cartoon-like animation that proved far from seamless. C.S. Lewis readers who demand literal interpretations of the acclaimed author's work would find this version, currently available on DVD courtesy of the BBC and Home Vision Entertainment, more to their liking. Although "Shriek" director Andrew Adamson and scenarists Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely have taken some liberties with their big-screen adaptation, their film version "Chronicles" sticks to the same essential storyline. Chiefly, Adamson and company have streamlined the novel's events and ramped up the drama without diverging from the source material. Indeed, in all but one episode of the movie, the filmmakers have actually improved Lewis' narrative and made it more palatable.
"Chronicles" unfolds against the devastating aerial attacks launched by the German Air Forcethe Luftwaffeover London during World War II. Consequently, the Pevensie childrenPeter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucyare evacuated to the scenic splendor and serenity of the English countryside where they live with elderly Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent of the "Bridget Jones" movies) in his huge house with hundreds of rooms and passageways, presided over by a grumpy old housekeeper, Mrs. MacReady (Elizabeth Hawthorne of "The Frighteners") who displays little patience for mischievous brats.
In one of the major changes from the novel, our heroes accidentally break one of Professor Kirke's stained-glass windows while playing a game of cricket and hide from the nosy Mrs. MacReady. In the book, they hide from her, because she warned them not to interfere with the tours that she gave of the house to spectators. Anyway, they conceal themselves in a magical wardrobe. Earlier, the youngest PevensieLucyhad discovered that the wardrobe opened onto a fabulous faraway land where she had tea and cookies with a faun in his mountain hideaway. Initially, Lucy's brothers and older sister dismissed her story as poppycock. Later, Edmundthe most treacherous of the quartetdiscovered that Lucy had not been lying. He found his way into the snow-swept land, only to encounter the wicked White Witch (Tilda Swinton of "The Beach") who promised him a kingdom and a crown if would deliver the other three into her custody. We learn later on that the evil Witch fears this quartet because they are fated to rule over the land after her demise. It seems that the dastardly Witch has imprisoned the friendly faun that Lucy initially met, so Lucy and her kin resolve to rescue him. Eventually, Edmund defects and reports back to the Witch. Predictably, the Witch refuses to abide by her bargain with Edmund and dispatches a pack of ravenous wolves to capture the other Pevensies. A family of beavers befriends the Pevensies and helps them elude the wolves by means of an escape tunnel under their beaver house. This escape tunnelbuilt conveniently to accommodate our hulking heroes (what beaver would construct a tunnel with humans in mind?) and a subsequent escapade on a rapidly flowing roller-coaster of a riverconstitute the other major departures from the Lewis saga. Eventually, our heroes join the forces of virtue, an army of animals and mythical creatures, such as centaurshalf man/half horselead by a majestic talking lion named Aslan. Incidentally, translated from Turkish language, Aslan stands for 'lion.' Aslan emerges as the White Witch's mortal adversary.
Unlike the low-budget BBC-TV version, director Andrew Adamson's 140-minute "Chronicles" benefits from superb computer generated visual effects. The lion appears as realistic as if it were actual flesh and blood. Actor Liam Neeson of "Batman Begins" provides a voice every bit as majestic as his visual counterpart. Although this yarn concludes with an epic battle between the Witch's legion and Peter's army, you won't spot a speck of blood and gore. Nothing in the PG-rated "Chronicles" should induce anxiety in the minds of the film's target audience: children age twelve and under. While "Chronicles" secretes a Christian message within its storychiefly Aslan's act of self-sacrifice, the movie never clobbers audiences over the head with its ideology. Similarly, C.S. Lewiswho penned his share of Christianity-oriented textsalong with high-brow literary tomes and science fiction outingsrefused to let his Biblical message overshadow the fantasy elements. Meaning, if you aren't looking of any religious propaganda in "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," you'll never know it but still enjoy it.