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.
With the exception of the Ice Queen, most of the characters were too wooden or linear for my tastes. The pace of the film felt uneven and CGI money-shots on the battlefield felt too much like, "been-there, done-that."
The passion and the sweeping epic feel of the book just didn't translate well to the screen. It may have looked good in draft, but the final product just didn't engage me that much.
But ultimately...to me, did the movie "suck"? No. Clearly, it was meant for children, so that's its primary saving grace. Besides, it may be underwhelming and uneven, but I've seen far worse movies that truly do deserve such a label.
Do you like fantasy stories? It's definitely a kid's movie, but it's a good kid's movie.
They maybe should have toned down the violence because I do think the movie is aimed at younger kids 8-10. However, I enjoyed the movie. I enjoyed the books more as a kid, and then as an adult reading them to my son.
Ping
Actually, after reading some of the reviews and threads on FR I was surprised at it's lack of obvious religious inferences. They are very subtle in in the subtext (Lion gives life for others, resurrects and leads fight against evil). The only direct references are in "son of Adam, daughter of Eve".
Agreed, it's a kid's movie.
Hollywood bores me now. T2 was a great movie. From there...ummm.....what was good?
I didn't find it quite as good as it should have been. It does seem to be a 'let's hurry up and capitalize on the success of LOTR' job, rather than a job done by a group that really loved the book and story. THere were a lot of things left out. I enjoyed it but only because hey, I enjoy a lot of stuff that may be sappy and predictable, as long as it has an honorable message.
--I saw "Kingdom of Heaven" (the Orlando Bloom crusades movie) and I wish that I could get back those wasted 2 hours of my life. That movie was one giant vaccuum cleaner.
You actually watched the whole thing? Whew boy!..that's pretty funny..
No I didn't but plan to.
I think Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my favorite. My least favorite was The Boy and his Horse.
I heard brokeback mountain sucked too.
"Isn't The Magician's Nephew really more like a "prequel" to Lion, Witch, Wardrobe? While, technically, it occurs before LWW, it always seemed to me that you needed to read LWW first, and then have some gaps filled in with TMN."
Having JUST finished TMN last nite (after already having read "Chronicles" some 25+ years ago), your assessment is 100% correct, IMO.
Am I the only one around that thought the LOTR was too-hyped? I was completely unimpressed, but due in large part to all the constant hype. All movies were OK, but unworthy of all the praise.
I'm preparing my flame suit.
I never knew that Linus would recite bible verses right at the end of the special, until you told me.
>>>I understand they are kids books, so is Harry Potter. If the movie was really wanted to target the small kids they should have omitted much of the battle scenes...far to violent for the little ones. They didn't so I assumed they wanted to target an older audience.>>>
Yes, it was a kid's version of Braveheart.
My four year old daughter didn't mind so much though. She was caught up in the fighting.
"Christ and his disciples were all people of little consequence and no special leadership qualities..."
Christ was the son of God and performed miracles.
A friend saw it and didn't like it either. She thought the writing was bad and she didn't care about the characters and most disturbing were the animals' sounds made during the fighting. She said it really did sound like wounded animals and she wouldn't bring a young child to see it.
Oh well, I thoroughly enjoy the movie Starship Troopers, but have never read the book. Some FReepers have said the movie sucked compared to the book.
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