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Printer-Friendly ModeNarnia brings children’s classic to life beautifully
December 12, 2005 —
Discovery. Betrayal. Death. Rebirth. Despite what church bulletin boards across the nation may have you believe, I am not talking about the Bible. Rather, I am talking about a different story, one about a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe.
The Chronicles of Narnia has drawn comparisons to the Bible that may have you scratching your head as you try to figure out if the lion or the hideous troll is supposed to represent Jesus. I will be the first to admit that I do not know much about that particular book, so I was not looking to parallel the movie to the Holy Scriptures.
Instead, I spent my time in the theater simply enjoying one of the most anticipated films of the year.
Based on the classic book by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first theatrical version of the story of Narnia. With a hefty budget and heavy promotion, it is set to take on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for control of the final month of the year. In fact, Narnia may already be the movie on everyone's minds, as Mr. Potter has already seen his moment of glory.
With all the hype surrounding Narnia, one has to wonder if the movie is as good as fans of the book expect it to be. It is not often that a movie lives up to its hype, and it is even less common for a movie to greatly surpass expectations.
Narnia does just that - it is everything I expected and more. From beginning to end, the film captures the attention (and imagination) of viewers and does not let go. Every moment is exceptionally done with no noticeable flaws.
First off, the children in the movie fit their roles quite well. These four British actors take on the personas of the Pevensie siblings, two brothers and two sisters who travel to the magical land of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe. Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, and Anna Popplewell are Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan, respectively. For their age, they are extraordinary actors who interact well with each other and their surroundings.
The surroundings, of course, are the main attraction of the movie. The fictitious Narnia is a wonderfully beautiful landscape of rolling hills, frozen lakes, and forests inhabited by creatures of every conceivable species. These creatures are extremely lifelike - I almost forgot that minotaurs are not real. But there is one species that does not reside in Narnia, man.
And this is where the plot of the movie comes in. According to local beavers and fawns, the prophecy tells of two brothers and two sisters who will basically save Narnia from the evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton).
Swinton is fantastic as the stoic self-proclaimed Queen of Narnia. She is cold and evil and aims to stop the prophecy from being fulfilled.
But the lion god of Narnia, Aslan, intends to see the siblings prevail. Thus, the battle between good and evil begins.
If good overcomes evil, the land will return to its glorious state of beauty. If evil prevails, though, Narnia will forever be covered in snow and ice.
The battle scenes in the movie are filmed nicely and, thankfully, do not take up too much of the movie's run time. Instead, the war is limited to the final moments of Narnia, which gives more time to valuable plot and character development.
Nevertheless, the war is still the focus of the movie. And while the outcome is fairly predictable, every scene is still tense and awe-inspiring.
This battle between the forces of good and evil may represent something biblical. But I found the movie to resemble Lord of the Rings meets Peter Pan.
I say if you want to learn about the life of Jesus Christ, go to church on Sunday. But if you want to experience one of the best fantasies of the year, go to the movies and see The Chronicles of Narnia.