Review 13: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a beautifully breathtaking film making and one of the greatest fantasy films made,

^{Based on the novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis; During the World War II bombings of London, four English siblings, Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are sent to a country house of eccentric Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent) where they will be safe. One day, Lucy finds a wardrobe that transports her to a magical world called Narnia. After coming back, she soon returns to Narnia with her siblings. There they join the magical lion, Aslan (Liam Neeson), in the fight against the evil White Witch, Jadis (Tilda Swinton).}

^{The plot is wonderfully written and stays true to the book. Much like the Narnia books  C.S. Lewis never intended for the Narnia books to be a religious allagory so much as supposal. The question that poses us is "Suppose there were a Narnia world and it, like ours, needed redemption. What kind of incarnation and Passion might Christ be supposed to undergo there? Co-writer director Andrew Adamson explores this "supposal" through how when Lucy first stumbles into Narnia, it's cursed in an endless winter and never Christmas. Norse tradion mythologises a "great winter," known as the Fimbulwinter, said to precede Ragnarok.}

^{One of the core themes of this film is that while it's important to enjoy being a kid and embracing your immagination, it is equally important to accept adulthood and responsibility. Something that is reflected in all four of the Pevensie Children as they strive to rid Narnia from the White Witches tyrany.}

<sup>Andrew Adamson's directing is poised, the cinematography is breathtaking and captures the beauty and vastness of Narnia, the score by Harry Gregson-Williams is appropriately grand, the costumes are wonderfully crafted, the props are look as they've been crafted out of a furnace, the special effects are fantastic, the makeup is a work of art, the costumes are spectacular, the production design (recreating WWI and Narnia) is magnificent, the scenery is marvelous and the battle scenes are thrilling.

The acting is excellent, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley play their roles of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie effortlessly</sup> 

 

^{Peter is the oldest of the four Pevensie children and he's forced into becoming the head of the family when they're sent away during the air raids.} 

 

Susan is the most cynical of the four sibling What sets Susan apart from the other Pevensie children is that she thinks in terms of practicality. Susan is a realist, from her perspective there's a perfectly logical explanation for everything. Much like Peter, she feels the obligation of looking after Edmund and Lucy given that they're their younger brother and sister and it's something that's caused her to grow up too fast - being saddled with all this responsibility. When she arrives in Narnia, she thinks she's too grown up to believe in it. But, through this adventure, she becomes more open to the idea of being in this magical land.
Over the course of the adventure she learns to become unafraid of being a child.

Edmund as the middle child has kind of gotten left out a little bit, his older brother is now acting like his father, he's vying for attention

Lucy is the youngest and purest at heart. Henley is very much the MVP of this film,  but the one thing that sets Lucy apart is that she has completely unshakable faith, she believes in her adventures in Narnia and steadfastly refuses to recant her stories when her siblings demand she drop it. 

 

James McAvoy playing the fawn Tumnus 

Jim Broadbent 

^{Liam Neeson was the perfect choice for Aslan, perfectly bringing the balance of warmth, gentleness, wisdom and authority}

 

<sup>Ray Winstone and Dawn French make for a simply delightful pair voicing a Beaver couple that help the Pevensie children on their way to Asland. Winstone brings a gruff, down-to-earth demenour to Mr. Beaver and French gives off a motherly and caring nature. They provide warmth and levity to the proceedings.

Tilda Swinton makes for a simply chilling villain as Jadis, the White Witch. She doesn't have any consience or sense of honor or social responsibility or love or compassion and has ruled Narnia with an iron fist for hundreds of years by trapping it in an endless winter. She knows that if the Pevensie children ally themselves to Aslan, they will bring about the end of her rule.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic and the books are a childhood favorite of mine and I recommend it to all families, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic</sup>