Replies

I think you point out the problem with the opening. In your design, the opening pages are 10 out of 110 or 9%. I'm not sure how long the intro to the movie went but it seemed like 20-30 minutes. That would be up to 25% of a two hour movie.

IMO, the movie should have opened with the kids at the train station waiting to be picked up and after introductions, moving to the cricket game, hide and seek and finding the wardrobe. That may have taken only 5-7 minutes...they could have used the rest on more character development, particularly Aslan.

I agree that it could have been longer in some places. But I am glad they did not try to ratchet it up to three hours like Peter Jackson likes to do so much. (Of course I'm glad he did with LOTR.)

However, I think the first act should have transitioned into act two with Lucy entering Narnia around twenty-five minutes into the story.

I do not know the timing, but I would put sending the kids to their uncle as the inciting incident around twelve pages / minutes into the story.

One thing to keep in mind is that the setup here is a setup for the whole series, not just the first installment. I personally liked that it built slowly. I liked that the film took the time to establish the characters well before they ever got to the Narnia world. The essential sequence of events would have fallen apart otherwise: Edmond picking on Lucy, siding with the White Witch, then separating from the group making it essential for them to stay and rescue him.

Of course I saw it differently because I already knew the story, so the details were more of a plot advance for me, whereas most people who do not know the story will see the details as trivial or inconsequential.

Be sure to post your thoughts about the book after you read it. I think you will like them, especially if you read the whole series.

Thanks for the feedback. I have been wondering what people would think who haven't read the stories first.

Your opening is more like how the books started. However, I read something that the makers of the movie felt like today's primary audience (children) wouldn't understand the times that the Narnia children were living in, and they felt like they needed to set that situation up. I think it was good for my children, and I know my son (who has read the books) liked the set up.