I took my 14 year old grandson, who does not read (except for Harry Potter books). We both loved it. The theatre was jam packed with every age group and was, once the movie began, dead silent and enthralled.
I read British childrens literature from that period and the Narnia books follow a pattern that you won't find in The Sweet Valley High books or any of the current "teen" books that focus on the tawdry, the sexual and the spiritual violence of satanic beings -- a lot of the secular whining is product of people who do not read and are focused on form rather than substance. The books are a product of their time, and I was most relieved to find that the producer and director had resisted the urge to 'update' them by moving the venue to California and changing Narnia into a reprise of 17 Magazine and the girls into Xena, Warrior Princess. (I have to confess that the tiresome "Susan" character, the whining older girl who always wails in favour of running away and going home, is the one character in all books of the period that I would like to drown -- but she existed and exists -- she's the prototype of Cindy Sheehan and only the presence of brothers and friends with backbone keeps her on the right path.)
After the movie Paul and I talked about a few of the things we had seen -- but not much, just enough to give him something to think about, and to indicate to me that he'd picked up a few of the messages. We have been discussing gambling (he knows I gamble and we talk about it honestly) and an occasion when I had to choose between a friendship and a $40 slot machine win. He said "Money is always important" and you ought to choose it over your friends; two and and I pointed out that he'd seen Edmund betray his brother and sisters for a box of candy, and what that caused to happen. For a 14 year old, things are very black and white -- and a few more words revealed that he'd grasped the idea. That movie gave him plenty to think about. I bought him the book and I hope he'll read it.she
Susan turns to the dark side later, doesn't she?