The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Starring: Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Liam Neeson (voice)
Directed by: Andrew Adamson
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Four children (Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell) travel through a magic wardrobe to the land of Narnia, where they join the lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) to defeat the White Witch (Tilda Swinton).

Review:

Tim: It was quite an achievement to bring this fantasy epic to the big screen. It really is a sweeping tale, and looks impressive. The movie is somewhat flawed, but is still enjoyable. The pure scope itself is reason enough to watch the movie. Make no mistake, this is not The Lord of the Rings. It's not close. But, it's still good.

I am not sure how I feel about the four Pevensie children. The actors aren't bad, but I wish they were more effective. They aren't exactly impressive on the screen. Tilda Swinton is good as the White Witch, and I enjoyed seeing James McAvoy, even if he doesn't have a great deal to do. Liam Neeson voicing Aslan was an excellent choice.

The movie starts out slow and moves along at a plodding pace. The film's battle scenes near the end are quite impressive. You have humans and beasts of all types engaged in a massive war. This is fairly amazing. However, it takes far too long to get to this point, and while impressive, it isn't the show stopper that it needed to be.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is impressive, and probably as close to the scope and size of The Lord of the Rings as anyone is going to get in the coming years. This is the start of another huge fantasy franchise, but you have to hope that it gets better from here.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Lord of the Rings trilogy