At long last, the epic "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" installment of C.S. Lewis' beloved series has hit theaters. After the huge success of the movie versions of Lord of the Rings series, Hollywood turned to Lewis' series to scrounge up another adventure. With the help of LOTR's special effects department WETA digital, and plenty of read-throughs of the book...I would venture to say we've another good movie on our hands this year, and I suggest you see it if interested at all.

How appropriate to have that relation between the series', as it was noted that Lewis and Tolkien were good friends and helped each other along while penning their respective adventures. They both, the stories that is, draw upon classical mythology and heavily from the Bible, of which is more prominently themed in the Narnia books.

For those who have not read the books, here is a brief preface before the movie, should you see it:
During World War II, four children, named Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy, are sent out of London to get out of harm's way. They find safe haven in the home of professor Digory Kirke. Upon poking around the home, the youngest of the troupe, Lucy, finds a mysterious wardrobe, a wardrobe that opens a way to a magical land called 'Narnia' by the natives---of which are fauns, centaurs, unicorns, minotaurs, cyclopes, and all manner of magicians and talking forest creatures.
The land of Narnia is in a never-ending winter, thanks to the powers of the evil White Witch, Jadis, who has brought on the horrible conditions and brought misery and death to many. The opposing side of her is a collection of beings who follow Aslan, a magnificent lion, who leads the children onto their destiny. Troubles brew when the children are thrown into this world of mysticism, and the calls of the beasts and witches of Narnia beckon them.

The movie itself was well made, clearly expensive as it was loaded with many special effects shots of battle sequences and computer generated characters. It stays true to the book, and has appeal to all ages. There is some humor, scenes of action, and an engaging story (for those who have read the book). Mr. and Mrs. Beaver lend some light-hearted weight to it, Mogrim and his wolves add suspense, and the struggles of the children thrust the story. Highly character driven, however...i felt the story was rushed, but being a children's movie condensed into such short format, the cheesy or rushed sequences are forgivable. Some of the creatures looked as though they had stepped straight out of the make-up trailer, and if you're expecting the epic conflicts captured in Lord of the Rings films, there is going to be less action here. Aslan was well-captured in his majesty (with the nice accent to him of having Liam Neeson do the voicework), while Jadis could have been more "evil". Still, if you are looking for a rousing adventure film or recapturing a bit of your youth, this fantasy is for you.

Check it out, one of the finest films of the year :)

I LOVE it. The scenes with Tumnus and Lucy were done so well, innocent yet creepy.

I thought it was good. I took my 5 year old son to see it. We had been planning on going to see it for about 6 months. Perfect kids movie. that little lucy was cute and reminded me of my own daughter. I saw nothing creepy about her and Tumnus.

I haven't seen the movie yet and I never read the series as a kid. I have just begun reading it now and the first thing I noticed was the innocence of the children. They are wide eyed idealist, not at all like the characters in today's stories. They are in a way, refreshing.

I read the book a few month ago, and was quite disappointed. Unlike LOTR or Harry Potter, it's not more than a book for kids,and the characters are rather dim - there is no real psychology or depth.
I guess it can make a good movie for kids but honestly I don't feel like watching it.

Originally posted by astrapol2
I read the book a few month ago, and was quite disappointed. Unlike LOTR or Harry Potter, it's not more than a book for kids,and the characters are rather dim - there is no real psychology or depth.
I guess it can make a good movie for kids but honestly I don't feel like watching it.

It is just a children's film based off a highly child-oriented book series, thus my shining comments about it. I graded it based on the knowledge that this movie is intended for children.

My comment were not about the movie, just about the book. Of course it's just a kids book, but even as such I think it's a bit overrated - at least old fashioned.

Originally posted by Evakian
During World War II, four children, named Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy, are sent out of London to get out of harm's way. They find safe haven in the home of professor Digory Kirke. Upon poking around the home, the youngest of the troupe, Lucy, finds a mysterious wardrobe, a wardrobe that opens a way to a magical land called 'Narnia' by the natives---of which are fauns, centaurs, unicorns, minotaurs, cyclopes, and all manner of magicians and talking forest creatures

Astra, maybe this is why it seemed old fashioned;)

Evakian, thanks for the read, I have never even heard of the story. My son and daughter on the other hand have seen a movie in school and read the book.