The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Directed by Andrew Adamson
Written by Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson
Starring Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy
Release Date December 9th, 2005
Published December 9th, 2005
So much has been made of the religious elements of The Chronicles of Narnia that I expected Mel Gibson to direct it. With the films marketing campaign targeting churches and Walden Media producing, one might fairly expect a screed or religious tract. Thankfully this live action take on the epic novels of C.S Lewis is neither a screed or a tract.
In the skilled hands of director Andrew Adamson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is an exhaustively exciting epic of wonder, imagination and technology.
Escaping the Nazi's nightly bombing raids in London, the Pevensie children, oldest son Peter (William Moseley) his brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and two sisters Susan (Ann Popplewell) and youngest child Lucy (Georgie Hensley) are sent to a large country estate owned by the eccentric professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent).
Trapped in this middle of nowhere mansion the children's natural curiousity leads them to search the innumerable rooms. In one room young Lucy uncovers a large wardrobe that she seeks to use as a hideout in a game of hide and seek. Once hidden in the wardrobe Lucy finds something extraordinary. The wardrobe is a portal to an alternate universe called Narnia. In her adventure Lucy meets an odd creature named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy) a faun, half human, half deer. Lucy bonds with Mr. Tumnus and she cannot wait to tell her brothers and sister of her discovery.
Not surprisingly, the older siblings believe that Lucy is imagining things but soon all are traveling through the wardrobe to Narnia and a meeting with destiny and prophecy. According to some helpful exposition, first from Mr. Tumnus and then from some helpful beavers voiced by Ray Winstone and Dawn French, the arrival of four human children in Narnia is a sign that will bring about the end of one hundred years of winter brought about by the evil white witch (Tilda Swinton).
The children's arrival also means the return of Narnia's rightful leader Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson). Aslan's return is met by the white witch and her army of thousands of blood thirsty half humans and other mythic creatures. Aslan's own army of similar half humans and woodland creatures meet the white witch on the field of battle and the Pevensie children must join the battle for there to be peace in Narnia.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is an astonishing work of tremendous imagination. All credit goes to director Andrew Adamson who brings the same sense of excitement and delight to Narnia that he brought to both of the Shrek films. Adamson directs much of Narnia as if he were directing an animated film. The same limitless creativity that animators approach their material with Adamson brings to this pseudo-live action epic.
Many films with this level of CGI work tend to forget to do the basics of filmmaking right. Adamson, however, does not fall into this trap. Each element of filmmaking from the effects to the casting is spot on. Adamson manages this massive undertaking like a veteran director, which is a tall task considering that The Chronicles of Narnia is Adamson's first live action film. Before this film his only experience came directing the Shrek films.
Given the amount of CGI effects in The Chronicles of Narnia directing a computer animated film like Shrek was actually the perfect training ground. Considering that one of the problems Adamson faced while directing Shrek 2 was rendering his cartoon characters far too realistically, the real people of Narnia must have been a breeze in comparison.
Adamson's great achievement in The Chronicles of Narnia may be his striking attention to every detail of filmmaking. With all of this technology on display Adamson never loses focus on his actors and helps, especially his young actors, to draw out exceptional performances. The difference between a good director and a great director is a command of all aspects directing and, while it may be a little premature to call Adamson a great director, The Chronicles of Narnia is a great first step toward that title.
Adamson is aided greatly by a cast of tremendous young actors who nail nearly every beat of their performances. Especially strong is young Georgie Henley as Lucy. Henley's sense of wonder is captivating and watching her eyes light up at the sight of Mr. Tumnus and the many wonders of Narnia gives you a similar excitement. This is one of the most phenomenal performances by a child actor that I have ever seen.
While the remaining Pevensie children do not stand out as well as Henley, each has their strength. Skandar Keynes captures Edmund's sniveling selfish qualities early on and manages a strong redemption as well. Ann Popplewell as Susan seems to have been the casualty of the film's runtime. The few moments that Popplewell gets to establish Susan's presence, such as strong speech over the fallen body of Aslan and a late movie turn into an action heroine, work very well.
Finally, William Mosely as the oldest Pevensie child, Peter, has arguably the most difficult of the roles. As written, Peter is solely heroic and noble with little room for much of a personality. Moseley performs well as an action hero and his bravery in the final scenes is compelling even if Peter overall is a bit on the bland side.
Arguably the films biggest challenge and it's biggest success is the computer generated Aslan voiced to perfection by Liam Neeson. Narnia writer C.S Lewis was said to be opposed to any live action movie version of his Narnia tales because of a fear that the animal characters would look foolish. Well I cannot speak for Mr. Lewis, but I can say that Aslan is rendered as realistically as technology will allow and is certainly not foolish looking. Embodied with Neeson's thoughtful fatherly tones, Aslan is a deep and integral part of what makes The Chronicles of Narnia an outstanding film.
Aslan is not the only exceptional CGI creation in The Chronicles of Narnia. The beavers who guide the children through the middle portion of the film providing wise council and important plot points are equally as well created as Aslan. Also well made are the many Centaurs, Minotaurs and other mythical creatures of Narnia. One simply cannot find enough praise for the awesome, if at times slightly overwhelming, CGI creations in The Chronicles of Narnia.
While many will distract themselves with the religious subtext of The Chronicles of Narnia, the important thing to remember is how entertaining the film is. With its epic technology, budget and runtime, Narnia bears a fair comparison to Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings trilogy and the four Harry Potter films. That Chronicles of Narnia not only stands up to such lofty comparison but exceeds, in my opinion, atleast two of the LOTR films in terms of entertainment value, is an outstanding achievement.
Yes, the religious subtext is there in The Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan's sacrificing himself to save the children is comparable to a Christ-like sacrifice. His eventual rise from the dead is obviously quite similar to the Biblical resurrection. But the subtext of The Chronicles of Narnia is only on these few occasions heavy-handed. For the most part, C.S Lewis's story is more interested in establishing its own universe and mythology. It is Narnia's own mythos that will matter as the series progresses into sequels and that will be what keeps audiences returning to it.
The Chronicles of Narnia could stand an injection of humor. At times the film takes itself far too seriously, almost to the point of parody. Thankfully, the beautifully captured images of the grandiose Narnia and the effervescent performance of Georgie Henley lighten the mood and help your imagination soar over the occasions when The Chronicles of Narnia becomes overly serious.
With Walden Media and Disney already committed to making Narnia sequels, the best review one could give The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is to say that I cannot wait for the sequel. Indeed I can say I am excited to see where director Andrew Adamson will take this other worldly adventure story, if in fact he is allowed to continues as the director.
I was not excited when I went in, I expected to be preached to. The Chronicles of Narnia does not preach or attempt to convert anyone. It is on a whole simply a very entertaining movie.
