Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Movie Review: Narnia- The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe

Where do I begin?

This movie was overall quite entertaining. Not too long, not too short. The scenery and costumes were amazing. The beastfolk cgi and actor integration was well done. I like how they didnt try to go over the top with it like in some movies. The movie seem to follow the book fairly well, though there were a couple of small differences that I did not mind overlooking at all.


The Good -

Skandar Keynes was a great choice for Edmund. He was such a little pissah in the movie. At the same time you could kind of see why he did what he did. So he was more of a real character and not just hatable.

Mr. Tumnus, I have never been more impressed with James McAvoy's work. Bravo!

The white witch, she was an evil bitch. What a great job, i dont know about the whole dreadlocks look but she was evil enough not to make this movie a yawner.

The way they portrayed Narnia when it was under winter was pretty boss. It was a dark and uneasy place to be. The mood in the first half of the movie was excellently done.


The Bad-

They say Narnia is a big place... then the kids travel across the breadth of it in a day. Whats with that?

Some would say the biblical references were glaringly obvious here. But I say, hello, its a friggen CS Lewis book, what do you expect? Thats like going to a monster truck rally and bitching about why you are only looking at big trucks.

This one drove me crazy. The boys learning to be consummate combatants in just a few days? At least they tried to show that the boys were training to fight. Though the director did a piss poor job of it. I saw Peter taking those wild swings against the witch in that battle, while she was fighting florentine style. She had like five chances to kill him and I just couldnt help twitching every time she didnt skewer him like a shishkabob. They really should have taught that kid to swordfight a little. It just hurt to watch that, and I usually dig battle scenes.

I think they made the weather change too quickly. It made the movie feel rushed and less believable.


The Rating-
Overall id give it a 7/8 out of 10. The movie was a little lighthearted for me towards the end, I think it could have been just a little more sinister. It would have made the kids ultimate triumph that much more compelling. As is, Id recommend people fork out the money to see it in theatres. It is worth watching at least once. I'll probly get it when it comes out on video.

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