Finally, C.S. Lewis' classic has come to the big screen

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2012)

It can be difficult to write a review on both the book and the movie in the same day. I read the book recently, but I am unlikely to pick it up anytime soon despite it being quite a good book, so when I watched the movie again last night I decided that as well as doing a review of the movie I would also review the book as well. The catch is that I am likely to go over a lot of the things that I have already gone over in the book, and I am not the type of reviewer that looks at a films technical aspects but rather at its content.
I would probably suggest that this falls into the same content as what one would expect from a Hollywood movie. It has heroes and villains, and there is a movement to the climax where the heroes defeat the villain, save the world, and become kings and queens. However it is not so much the film but the underlying book upon which this film is based that I believe is important for considering the content. However, I would suggest that while it does not strictly follow the book (for that will be difficult in the best of cases) I do feel that it does faithfully stick to the themes that are present.
This movie is basically allegory, though it is also a children's film, and the use of allegory can be difficult when we are looking at children. However, Lewis' original work was allegorical, and it was also targeted at children, though the theme of the book is really about redemption. This is the type of film that I would definitely show children, but I would also like to discuss the themes of the film afterwards, particularly the theme of redemption.
There are two important elements to this film, that is redemption, and hope. The idea of redemption focuses entirely on the character of Edmund. To put it simply he not only betrays his siblings, but in doing so he betrays Narnia, Aslan, and of course himself, and it is all over lust for Turkish delight (which is allegorical for pleasure). The White Witch is an allegory of Satan, in that she holds Narnia in her grip and drains all that is good and pleasant from the land (as is represented by the enternal winter). When she first appears she treats Edmund as if he was important, and showers him with gifts, but upon taking the gift, he comes within her power, and it is only through the sacrifice of an innocent (being Aslan) that rescues Edmund from her grip.
The idea of hope is also present, and that is represented by the appearance of Father Christmas halfway through the film. While the film does not paint him as Father Christmas, it does become noticeable that this is what this character is supposed to be. Christmas falls on the Winter Solstice, meaning that it is the shortest day of the year, and also heart of winter, when everything is at its bleakest. However what Christmas tells us is that the worst is over, and we now have Spring to look forward too. In the film that is demonstrated by the snow melting and green shoots appearing. It is allegorical of Christ's first appearance in that it is said he came at the deepest and darkest point of human history. The Republic had collapsed to be replaced by the Roman Imperium, and everybody was under the yoke of the emperor. While things did get worse, what Christ's appearance heralded was the arrival of hope, hope that there is more to the pain and suffering in the world, and that there is a God who loves us, cares for us, and wants an intimate relationship with us.