Posted on 12/27/2005 11:28:47 AM PST by Bob J
After reading all the hype in the media and on FR, I was excited to see the film of the CS Lewis book. I have to say I was disappointed. For all it's grandiosity and provenance, I found it clunky, sometimes difficult to follow and worse, unbelieveable (even a "fantasy" movie must reasonable enough in the story and behavior of it's characters to hurdle the initial "willing suspension of disbelief")
The religious basis and backdop to the story has been argued at length on FR, so let's leave that at the doorstep and discuss it's cinematic achievements, or lack thereof.
The Story.
This may have been why I had a problem with the movie. After the presentation of the premise and the characters, I found myslef resisting acceptance that an entire fantasy world filled with magic, mythologic creatures, witches, generals and armies was waiting for a four small children to come and save their world....by prophecy and design. It would have been more believeable if they happened into the world by accident and through clever plot twists were responsible for the salvation of Narnia. But there was nothing really special about these kids, no ancestors with a special connection/knowledge to Narnia, no special abilities, expertise or talents, They were not exceptional in any way...they were just kids. Why did the land of Narnia need them? They added nothing that wasn't already there and in fact detracted from it.
The opening.
The setup took far too long. I wasn't watching my watch but it must have taken over 20-30 minutes for the first kid to walk out the back of the wardrobe closet into the land of Narnia. I didn't understand the emphasis placed on this part of the book as it had little to do with subsequent events. Did it matter that much to the story that the the kids were sent off to the professor because their mother was concerned about the danger of WWII? There was a passing reference later about being shipped off to avoid the effects of war only to be dropped in the middle of the war in Narnia (and whether they should get involved at all), but it fell limply to the ground.
The characters.
Ouch. Let's go by the numbers.
The Professor and his maid (?).
Good cop bad cop. The maid is stern, the professor, kind. So what? The movie feints toward this professor knowing more about Narnia and the wardrobe, but it leaves it there. You think he is going to add some specific knowledge or experience that the kids might benefit from (if not be involved himself) but they movie drops it and he becomes a useless figure in the overall plot. Why waste screen time on it?
Lucy - A typical, precocious, British eight year old. The most likeable character in the movie (which might not be saying much) but I grow weary of the English tendancy to cast their child characters beyond their years. I had three "laugh" moments in this movie, two concerning her. First, when she hits the bullseye with her magic "knife" and then when she "flashes it" and heads off to vanquish the armies of evil. A real laugher.
Susan - The most annoying, negative character in the movie. At first I made parallels to Wendy from "Peter Pan, but you believed Wendy was concerned about the younger children while Susan comes off as a party killing shrew. They needed to soften this character but didn't. Throughout most of the movie I kept wondering when she was going to use those damn arrows...had to wait until the last 2 minutes and by then it was anticlimatic.
Edmund - The anti-hero who becomes hero. I busted out laughing (third instance) when they put he and his brother in those stupid looking suits of armor. We are asked to believe this 10 and 14 year old are going to take part in a "Braveheart" type battle with huge warriors and mythological creatures and vanquish all? I might have believed it if they were given extrahuman strength, speed and agility. Even with their magic "implements" the battle scenes with these two were comical. Think of William Wallace in a sword fight with Doogie Howser.
Peter - Peter is supposed to be the 14 year old hero of the story, protecting his siblings while winding their way through the dangers of a mystical kingdom. The residents of Narnia wait for his arrival to lead their armies of druids and gargoyles againt the forces of evil in a final battle of epic proportions and historic finality. Sorry. Through the first 4/5ths of the movie Peter comes off as an effeminate British girlie boy and it is too much to ask the audience to believe he is the saviour of Narnia. Why would they want or need him?
The Witch - Huh? Tilda Swinson does comes off as an evil bitch but I never did beleive she, or anyone, would want to be the King or Queen of Narnia. It would be like Sauron of Moldor and his legions of Orks waging an epic battle for the control of The Shire. Snooze.
That's my nutshell of a take. If you ave seen narnia and would like to comment, feel free to do so but let's keep it clean.
Doubt it. They were good friends and collegues to the end.
Actually there are seven books in the series not three.
It wasn't until I looked to see if that very same set of books was on sale at Amazon a few weeks ago, did I stumble across that tidbit which you mentioned, stating that the most recent editions of the books are sequenced backwards from the original series.
C.S. Lewis was quoted quite extensively in the book Purpose Driven Life, and for me, explains the reasons behind LW&W, as Lewis wrote the series from a theological POV.
..I've met you...you're a very nice guy...
..but you must remember you carry strong influence here at FR....you have a position of authority.
Numerous folks I respect tremendously, have seen this movie and give the same account and have the same reactions of Miss Marple and family.
I haven't seen it yet....(out of town family visiting and too much running around)...
..but I plan to.....can't wait, actually!....and think you could have critiqued the thing without using the "S" word...(I know, I'm repeating myself)....
..whatever your point of view, this movie definitely does not S***......
..and it's raking in the dollars into the millions and millions.
All .....or a good portion....of those folks can't be wrong....
I didn't say I hated them movie, I was disappointed probably because it was hyped up so much.
I also found the young actors fresh and actually very good. I recommend it for 2 hours of enjoyment.
I might have been a little provocative in the title.
sigh...I'm such an easy mark :^
Oh well, go see Brokeback Mountain. . .
We enjoyed the move immensely, and can't wait for the rest of the books to be made into movies!
I respectfully disagree.
When I read the series, it was in the original order - the order written.
I had no problem following characters, etc. In fact, when I read them, books that may be considered "out of order" by today's ADD standards actually were interesting in that order, as it gave you several "eureka!" moments when you figured out who was what, or why a certain thing was a certain way (the lamp post, for example).
The original order works just fine, IMO.
My son is only 10 and he has already finished the Chronicles, step to it man.
Agreed. There are several comments made throughout the diatribe that lead one to believe that he has never read the books.
I thought the movie was very good. 10 of us saw it together yesterday, ages ranging rom 7 to 57. We were all impressed with how true to the book the movie was. There were only two real deviations:
1. The portion of the story between the Beaver's house and the Stone Table. We all felt like it was a liberty taken in the name of saving time. We also felt like the story didn't suffer.
2. This is the one that confused us all. When the children discover Mr. Tumnus' ransacked house in the books, the letter announcing his arrest was signed by Fenrus Ulf, sheriuff to the White Witch. There was a different name on the letter altogether in the movie, and the part of Fenrus seems to have been replaced - at least in part - by a Minotaur. We couldn't figure out why this was. Maybe a second viewing will answer the question. :-)
When our daughter and I were in Japan this past summer, visiting friends, I found the series in Japanese at a bookstore. I got LW&W for her, and gave it to her for Christmas. I hope we are able to get back over for another visit, and I'll get some more for her. I didn't get the rest this last time because I got the first 3 Harry Potter books in Japanese for her, also. I'm giving those to her in Feb., for her birthday.
Also - your use of the word "sucked" belies a lack of education IMHO.
Right. So did I.
I had no problem following characters, etc.
Of course, because you read them in the correct order. As I said before, LW&W is book number 2 in the series.
In fact, when I read them, books that may be considered "out of order" by today's ADD standards actually were interesting in that order, as it gave you several "eureka!" moments when you figured out who was what, or why a certain thing was a certain way (the lamp post, for example).
In fact, you've stated you read them in order, why would you want to read them by "today's ADD standards"?
The original order works just fine, IMO.
So, why did you disagree with me?
I saw "The Making Of Narnia" on TBN a couple weeks ago, and I was pretty impressed by the battle scene. The battle scene has something like 400,000 computer generated characters in it, each with their own distinctive intelligence and fighting style.
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