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

'The Chronicles of Narnia' features weird but good plotting and massive visual effects. The plotting about the four siblings Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley) going through a wardrobe into a world of snow and witches and a talking lion voiced by Liam Neeson is weird but actually really entertaining. The acting is good (especially Georgie Henley) and the visual effects are cutting edge! The sword fights are also entertaining and the score too!

Honestly, I never really understood what happened with this franchise. I mean, sure, every year, ever since the success of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and the Harry Potter franchise, you have some high profile fantasy book adaptations and many flop terribly but, usually, when the first movie is very successful, they just keep releasing the sequels until the cow has been milked dry. Well, this franchise is the exception as while this installment was a huge box-office success, at the same level of the most successful franchises in the same genre, the sequels didn’t get much love and you wonder if they will ever release a 4th installment. One theory is that they took too much time to release the first sequel but 3 years seemed rather reasonable. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I remember it very well, I saw it in the theater when it was released with my wife and my step-kids and I thought it was quite decent. Indeed, it looked quite gorgeous and it was fairly entertaining. The only major flaw, in my opinion, is that the flow was seriously off. Indeed, the first half was very slow which wasn’t necessarily an issue since you got then the chance to get into this fantastic world and discover it with the characters. But then, the 2nd half was really fast, there were some many scenes and things happening at once, it was rather hard to digest. To conclude, it is far from being an amazing flick but I think it is still worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.

Amazing visual fantasy, and a very touching tale for the family. It's filled with magic, imagination, and a brilliant soundtrack.

New Line has "Lord of the Rings", Warner Bros. has "Harry Potter", and now Disney makes its valiant attempt to kickstart a major fantasy franchise all its own with the first and best known of C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia" books. The good news is Director Andrew Adamson and gang have done an impressive job of adapting Lewis' admittedly simple and somewhat thin tale into a big scale motion picture, delivering impressive production values and few solid action sequences along with the book's key emotional moments of tragedy and elation.

Unfortunately the film doesn't quite reach the success level of those other two aforementioned cornerstones of fantasy literature cum movie franchises. Outside of Rings & Potter, the Narnia series is probably the most well known series of fantasy fiction in history, but unlike those two which were long, richly detailed novels aimed at young adults or older, Narnia were very much children's books. Lewis' tales were simple fables done in a ruthlessly efficient writing style that never had the depth or level of detail of its magical world setting that Rowling or Tolkien's series ever did.

Consequently the film, which is slavishly loyal to the material, doesn't have to edit or cut scenes from the original story but rather extends them out to provide more detail (Edmond's subplot in particular seems to have been effectively expanded). Sadly even with the addendums, the film cannot overcome some of the problems inherit to the original story - difficulties the pre-teen crowd are unlikely to notice but adults will find issue with, even more so now after the high standards set by richer and more polished efforts in the genre of late. Like it or not the plot and characters are pretty thin and flat, and despite a commendable job to give them extra depth there's little to work with.

A lot of the problems have to do with the story's tone which shifts wildly - something not particularly noticable in print but blatantly obvious onscreen. One minute its almost stupidly childish with cheesy dialogue, silly character behaviours and jokes that would find laughs only with the toddlers crowd. From the polite talk of tea and turkish delight, to the sudden appearance of Santa Claus who seems to act as this franchise's equivalent of Q from the Bond movies, some scenes whilst not cringe-worthy are simply extraneous filler which could've well used the chop.

Quite often though it'll suddenly veer into dark territory involving death, sacrifice, animal slaughter and abuse to a level I would be hesistant about letting anyone who counts their age in a single figure see. As its a Disney film and rated PG, there's an overall sanitised look to proceedings with little to no blood seen despite some quite intense fighting, killing, and the gruesome night time 'table' scene left intact and played out to full extent. Other bits such as Lewis ending which is preserved, is prone to generate dissatisfaction or even laughs more than the story originally intended.

Subtext is another issue. Much has always been publicised about the Christianity element of the story, something which can definitely be seen in one small subplot towards the film's end, but its certainly not as overt as has been publicised. Other moments however generate subtext all their own, most notably the early scenes with Lucy and Tumnus which may have played out perfectly innocently on paper in 1950 but on screen in 2005 there's an almost darkly humoured paedophilia undercurrent - after all a half-naked hirstute man takes a young girl back to his house, locks her in, drugs her, and upon waking tells her "I've done a very naughty thing". If it wasn't for the two people in the scene being so genuinely sweet, it might have been a disaster.

Effects work veers wildly. Many of the creatures do look computer animated, and yet are still quite convincing - the beavers, fictional creatures like the Griffins, and Tumnus' fawn legs are excellent. Yet others don't work so well ranging from Aslan himself who never comes off as truly there, to talking animals like wolves and foxes which are stand out rather plainly. Once again New Zealand lends itself to an epic backdrop but little use is made of locations short of the final battle on a plain in the midst of a spectacular mountain valley.

More elements work than don't in the film's 140 minute runtime. The kids for example, whilst none of them display exemplary work, all do a more convincing job than the likes of Daniel Radcliffe did in his first go at Harry Potter. Swinton makes for a solid white witch - playing her faux sweetness and ruthless evil with a cold efficiency (not to mention proving surprisingly adept with a sword), Broadbent does a fun job in his brief cameo, and McAvoy brings warmth and charm as Tumnus. Kudos also to Ray Winstone and Dawn French for providing laughs as CG beavers with very English husband and wife personalities. On the flipside a lot of the smaller ancillary roles are of little use such as Rupert Everett's Fox, whilst Liam Neeson seems bored doing his Aslan voiceover and consequently the Lion lacks the booming power and grandeur he should've had.

Action is strong with some impressive sequences such as the final battle which is striking even in this post-Rings environment, a chase across a forzen waterfall that's thawing out, and the opening air raid on London scene. Yet others seem drawn out (the wolves chase) and more often than not a lot of these scenes are filled with some useless preamble to fill in time. At other points there's a little too much "I dub you the knight of..." style scenes which become repetitive. Score is fine for the most part, though there's two uses of strange Bjork-like music early on which doesn't really fit into the story.

The result overall isn't a triumph to be sure, but for the most part succeeds at what it wants to be - a family friendly fantasy movie. Kids (and adults) unfamiliar with the original story will probably not warm to its somewhat ham-fisted approach which can be frustratingly one-dimensional at times. Others grown on the richer textured and more contemporary fantasy epics of late will probably dismiss this as nothing but a pale imitation. Fans of the original though will probably be happy with this effective adaptation of one of the better books in the series (always had a bigger soft spot for Dawn Treader and Silver Chair myself), but its a shame this isn't as magical a journey as it could have been.

This movie has more layers than may be originally realised. It does not compare to 'Harry Potter' or 'Lord of the Rings', and may sometimes, especially in the final battle, look like cheap remakes of the two, but the source material did come long before 'Harry Potter', and it carries Christian messages within its plot, such as the resurrection. It is an innocent tale of school children that find a fantasy world within a wardrobe, and the adventure that follows is both entertaining and fun. Tilda Swinton is perfect as the Ice Witch, the main antagonist of the film, and the four young leads, especially Georgie Henley who plays Lucy, definitely have a career in acting waiting for them. Overall, it may not be the perfect fantasy film, but it is nevertheless a great family movie that is a magical experience to behold.

Four siblings -- Edmund, Lucy, Peter and Susan sent from their London home to the country estate owned by a professor in order to ensure their safety during World War II.

Professor's house was very dull, except for a secret wardrobe discovered by young Lucy during a game of hide-and-seek. Entering inside the wardrobe in the hope of finding a hiding place, Lucy is transported to a snowy alternate universe: a magical world called Narnia.

The land in the state of perpetual winter owing to curse of white witch Jadis, is populated by talking animals and ruled over by the benevolent lion Aslan.

As per the prophecy two sons and two daughters of Adam and Eve will relieve the Narnia from the spell.

summer sucks, winter is awesome!
beaver fur hat and coats
"all i wanted was some Turkish candy (marmalade?)"

I would have enjoyed the movie more if i didn't already know the plot. Story does not take itself too seriously.

During childhood, I was a big fan of the C.S. Lewis books (only read the first three, though, that involve the Pevensie's) and when the trailer aired at the cinema, I couldn't wait to see this! I was really glad that Disney were the makers of this and, to be honest, they were the exact right studio for a film like this! It was absolute magic as far as production is concerned. The settings were just brilliant in Narnia but I was even more impressed with the settings at the beginning in World War II environment (also including the costumes as well). The make-up was really awesome as well and it rightfully deserved the Academy Award in that category. Despite how awesome The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is, the film does have its fair share of flaws.


Flaws such as the acting from the two older Pevensie's was really lousy, the film was clearly a take-on against Lord Of The Rings by trying to be epic. It is epic but not quite epic enough to feel real like Lord Of The Rings did. Plus, the final battle was too short and perhaps not violent enough despite it being based on a kids novel. Another flaw is that it was quite slow and took a damn long time to get going. It was like 35 minutes into the film where Lucy first entered Narnia by accident so think they could have cut it by at least 15 minutes.


When the Pevensie family are evacuated out to the country, they are unaware of the adventure they will encounter. During a game of hide and seek, the youngest daughter, Lucy discovers a wardrobe which transports her to the land of Narnia. Covered in snow, Narnia is full of weird and wonderful creatures, but is watched over by the evil White Witch, Jadis. When all four Pevensie children end up through the wardrobe, they discover that it was meant to be, as two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam must join with the mighty lion, Aslan to defeat the evil White Witch.


The four young actors started in this one like the three leading actors did in Harry Potter: with almost no acting experience and because the book is so famous, they did have a lot on their shoulders. I think what surprised me the most was that the two older actors William Moseley and Anna Popplewell who portrayed Peter and Susan who perhaps had a better chance of playing their characters better than the two younger ones were both awful but the two younger ones: Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley who portrayed Edmund and Lucy were brilliant and they made them their own characters. I mean, William and Anna are meant to be playing the two big heroes but they really aren't and they were almost like hopeless muppets. I mean, there was no emotion and there was almost no attempt at trying to make this film as real as possible so, both of their characters are like plain and empty. Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley were brilliant as Edmund and Lucy. I am glad that they were the ones who entered Narnia first because we knew more about their personalities and made Narnia seem like a place of misery and evil. Tilda Swinton was simply fantastic as the White Witch! It is her bitter looks and often cold attitude that perhaps sealed her role in this film. She joins the list with Kathy Bates in Misery, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest as another actress who delivers a great performance playing a psychopathic character.


Andrew Adamson who is perhaps best known as director of Shrek and Shrek 2, certainly does know how to make a satisfying children's film due to the success of those two Shrek films but he doesn't quite know how to make a serious story very epic without looking like a copy-cat by trying too hard (like he does against Peter Jackson and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. After the disappointing Prince Caspian, I am glad he was part of Voyage Of The Dawn Treader too. He was producer of that instead of director. The script was good but my oh my! There were some damn cheesy moments that did rock the realism of it a bit.


Overall, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe certainly is a film of pure fun and family entertainment and it did take me into a world beyond imagination. A lot better than its sequel and I would definitely decide to watch this on a day when I just need entertainment to see. Does live up to the book despite its flaws and for that, it is a film that I recommend and should be seen by everyone.

Having read the first 3 books, I was skeptical when I learned that these movies were being made. Was I disappointed? Not by any means. It's marvelous. Sure the books are better, but once again I'm not a douche and complain about crap left out etc. The cast was quite great. Edmund was supposed to be annoying, the girl that played Lucy was mature and great at such a young age. Anna Poppelwell as Susan is an interesting and beautiful choice. Liam Neeson is the perfect voice for Aslan, made up for the "decent" cgi. OOO! Mr. Tumnus was portrayed well, although a little too creepy..just a tad ahaha.

Dislikes: The whole beaver thing could have been better and they made Aslan cheesier than He should be.

--Overall it's a magical wondrous tale with plenty of Christian'Faith based elements and analogies. C.S. Lewis was an amazing dude. I look forward to the other films now..glad I bought the 2 disc dvd of this.

Rating: 9.7/10

This movie had the same effect on me as The Prisoner Of Azkaban, the 1st Harry Potter film I saw. It's a project based on a book series that I not only never read but never really had any interest in.
Yet, after watching the film, I became interested in it.
As a kid, I used to think that sword & sorcery stories were supposed to be more intricate & more mature & more interesting versions of fairy tales. However, as I grew up, I found that the few movies that were made of this genre tended to fall short on either the fantasy or the consistency of the plot (for some reason, the idea of characters interacting with mythic creatures always seemed difficult for script writers to string together).
But The Chronicles of Narnia seemed to be able to aptly pull this off, at least in the 1st part of this film as the major players are introduced. Even more so, IMO, than in Lord Of The Rings.
The characters in Narnia looked just like fantasy characters were meant to look, the story came off as epic as the genre tends to aspire to be & every million dollar denomination was richly visable in the special effects.
While still not a perfect movie, for me, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe definitely was a surprise in it's over-all quality as a fully integrated movie of magic, metaphor & really cool CGI-enhanced action.