A fan of Narnia who was not impressed

Rating: 5/10 (28 September 2008)

Perhaps when I went into the cinema to watch this movie I had set my expectations too high. After all, the book has been my favourite thing to read since i was about nine and I was nineteen when the movie came out. However just because i was older does not mean i love the book any less; i can read it whenever i have a minute because the story is just so gripping. Sadly this did not transfer over to the movie.
Firstly i have to say that the casting of the children was a terrible one. Not a single one of them could act and the compassion i feel for their book counterparts was lost on them. They all seemed very wooden and unable to put any feeling into what they were doing.
I also felt that they start of the movie seemed very long. Too much time seemed to be spent setting the scene in this world rather than focusing time on the events of Narnia. There was also a lack of focus on Edmund and the enchanted food Jadis gave him. I can't recall anyone mentioning the potency of the magic in the food, making Edmund seem even more of a brat than he is in the book (and I'm an Edmund fan). Jadis herself seemed like a total wash out, unable of striking any kind of fear into anyone making Edmunds scene in the battle when he broke her wand losing its importance.
Another scene that annoyed me as I am such a fan of the book was when the characters are fleeing from the beaver's house and Maugrim is seen chasing them and eventually trapping them on the ice. When the heck does that happen? One of the things I always liked about the book when they are fleeing from the secret police is that the reader never knows how close behind they are. The wolves aren't seen but you get the feeling that they're close. Instead we have a really lousy scene of Peter making a prat of himself (which he just seemed to do a lot in the movie) Saying all that, the visuals were very good. Seeing Aslan and the beavers made for very interesting watching and are perhaps the only high points of the film. That and the costumes and scenery. It was hard to stomach when Liam Neeson did such a good job providing Aslan with a voice, and was then cast along a group of children whose whiny voices and forced acting made me want to leave the cinema and come back when the animals were on.
If you've not seen it, don't bother. I would recommend reading the book as it explains far more in a much more pleasant way or watch Prince Caspian, because despite the children still being shocking actors, that movie isn't half bad.