It was nominated for 3 Oscars (Makeup, Sound, Visual Effects) so I had to see it. I read the book by C. S. Lewis as a kid but didn't remember much. In one respect it's a typical fantasy yarn. Four children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) in an old castle find a wardrobe who's back opens onto another world. The world has witches, fauns, centaurs, and all manner of talking animals. Of course the children are part of a prophesy and there's a quest and a large battle.
The heart of this movie is in the 4 children. Unfortunately I found only the youngest, Lucy, to be likable. The others were greedy, whiny, wimpy, and filled with self doubt. No part of this is to show growth, but it didn't work for me. I didn't believe their abilities in battle at all. The movie also has some wonderful animal characters, some liek the faun were humans with makeup and a combination of CGI and others like a beaver couple were pure CGI. These effects were seemless and very believable, and the characterizations really did come through.
The movie is a mix of light adventure with some fierce battles. The movie is rated PG, but parts seemed very intense. The book is well known as a Christian parable with Aslan the Lion King as a Christ figure. I was surprised that the first thing he taught Peter was to kill an enemy wolf. I also did think of Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ when Aslan sacrifices himself.
You can skip the Christian allegory and just view this as a good fantasy film with a well-crafted world, great effects, and some uneven intensity.
2 comments:
I liked this too...and totally missed the allegory until I was reading a review.
The epic battles were below Lord of the Rings level...but still good.
The kids characters....I liked them all. Each was different, and in a realistic way. The eldest trying to be the leader, the middle child with middle-child dilemnas, and the youngest finding the portal and providing much of the impetus to resolutions of various unsettled relationships.
sorry for the bizzare name in my previous post. that was the blog comment word verification password....my name is "mike"
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