A big shiny package with nothing inside

Rating: 5/10 (9 August 2008)

I have never read the C. S. Lewis novel from which this film originates so I am going in cold and judging the film on its own merits and have no idea how closely it adheres to its source. The film starts off quite well with a lot of potential, but somewhere along the way misses its footing and ends up delivering a rather empty viewing experience. The end result fails to achieve the emotional depth or scope of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (films it appears to want to emulate), the imagination of the Harry Potter films, or even the ambition of the more recent The Golden Compass. The opening is fascinating and sets the stage nicely, taking the four central characters - two brothers and two sisters - from war-torn London to a more pastoral setting. The youngest child, played by the adorable Georgie Henley, stumbles onto a wardrobe that opens into another realm filled with talking animals, ice queens and epic battles of good vs. evil. Naturally, she compels her siblings to return with her and aid the forces of good - embodied by a wise, noble lion voiced by Liam Neeson - against the forces of evil, led by Tilda Swinton's queen. Unfortunately, it is around this point that the film begins to falter and lose its initial impact. The visuals range from good to merely adequate, with the battle scenes particularly smacking of CGI phoniness. Purportedly there is some pro-Christian agenda at work in Lewis' novel, but one really has to stretch to find it in the film as it just never seems that deep - in fact, it is amazing how quickly the film evaporates from the mind after it concludes. Swinton is suitably malevolent as the queen, but despite that none of the characters ever truly seem to be at great risk from her, which results in a veritable dearth of suspense. By contrast, Neeson appears to have become entombed in the role of wise mentor and desperately needs to stretch himself. He has become a veritable cliché. James McAvoy is charming as an impish faun who befriends young Henley, but then he is off-screen for far too long. The biggest problem lies with the central characters. The film works well when the emphasis is on young Henley, who is the most appealing and accessible of the siblings. Unfortunately, the second half punts her into a supporting role in favor of Skander Keynes, as her conflicted brother and the younger of the boys. Keynes's role requires some degree of acting prowess to carry one over the contortions his character is forced to go through during the running time, but he seems to only have two reactions - very surly and slightly less surly, which confounds any evolution. The older siblings have it even rougher. Blond pretty-boy William Moseley seems on hand only to appeal to the teenyboppers in the bland hero role and the film/story never seems to know what to do with the older sister, played by Anna Popplewell, so she instead just seems...there, like a prop. And therein lies the film's problem as a whole. It ends up performing the same function as a Christmas gift box wrapped in sparkling paper that holds nothing inside. It is lovely to look at for a short time, but then one is ready to move on to something with substance.