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.
Are you Christian? I have a totally different take on this.
Disagree with you here. Children will enjoy it as a nice story unless they have read the books and understand the Christian allegories. Parents need to attend with their children so that they can draw on the allegories of Christian life displayed in characters as well as actions.
But the lion, Aslan, is the allegory for Christ.
Please tell me that English is your second language.
And I found Lucy to be quite insightful. She was the only one who really understood what was happening on a deeper level. Do you want to know her allegorical counterpart?
All I can say is that I was in tears from the beginning through most of the movie.
Never felt that way in a movie in my whole life. Like it was all part of me. It was amazing.
Actually Charlotte's Web is a Christian allegory too -- just like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is.
**It followed the book so well - I loved the movie (I'm not a kid either) and can't wait to go see it again, and see what I missed the first time.**
I don't think people understand the art form allegory the Lewis used.
I read the books as a kid. Since I'm a deist, I didn't take my kid to see the movie because I wanted him to contemplate it as a Christian allegory.
Parents need to attend with their children so that they can draw on the allegories of Christian life displayed in characters as well as actions.
I never said that parents shouldn't attend. I said it was targeted for the 8-12 demographic. As for the purpose of parental attendance, if it trips your trigger to preach to your kids about Christ, more power to you. Never said anything to the contrary on that either.
I grow weary of the English tendancy to cast their child characters beyond their years.
C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia Chronicles, was reading Plato at six. Any child given the opportunity could read such classics with enjoyment and ease. It's called "an education," and we could use more of it around here.
Bob J, I called my grownup daughter and told her to see Narnia immediately, as Lucie Pevensie, the little heroine, is so much like she was at seven/eight years of age.
Many biblical characters are allegoried as well as the fight of good and evil, the resuurection of the dead and Purgatory.
**I have not read the books but saw the movie last night.An adult needs to watch with a understanding of Christianity to fully enjoy.**
Absolutely -- I thought it was wonderful.
Wow, from the reviews I've seen from those that are familiar with Lewis' works, they have been light praise at the very worst. There were some concerns I understand with having to wrap up the first book in such a short time but this concern was also seen with Tolkien's work. Have you actually read any of Lewis' works? At all?
You probably are a fan of the Odyssey.
I've only seen the previews and ads . . . . those appeared very clunky and made me think it sucked, so I was wondering why all the rave reviews?
He was raised Church of Ireland in Belfast (iow Anglican) and that branch was rather aggressively Protestant (for obvious reasons). He became an atheist as a youth, but that early stuff sticks with you.
He was less "low church" after his conversion, but the "high versus low" controversy pained him. I think it's probably fairest to say that he was a middle of the road Anglican for his day - although a very devout one.
Yes, I felt wonderfully uplifted during the movie and for a week afterward....and maybe still. I raided the public library for everything by and about C.S. Lewis. I love the way he writes, with sweeping ideas but leaving much to the reader's imagination. Thus the feeling of participation.
I could never enjoy J.R.R. Tokien's Lord of the Rings--he supplied much too much detail, leaving no room for my own visions. .
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