Fantasy Becomes Reality

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is among my favorite movies of all time though that is due in part to a pre-existing bias. I’ve seen movies with better acting, I’ve seen better computer graphics, but few stories have meant as much to me as this one, few imaginary lands have called to me as much as Narnia, and few fictional characters have felt as real to me as Aslan. I would rather visit Narnia than Middle Earth or, dare I say it, even Tatooine.

I read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was very young. When I was older C.S. Lewis became one of the biggest influences in my life which deepened my appreciation of the Narnia stories. Narnia has not simply entertained me, in some respects I am who I am today because of it, making it very much a part of me. So I will try to temper my bias with criticism, but forgive me if I get defensive about it.

Need I shout the praises of the story? It’s pretty obvious I love it. I find it amazing, engrossing, uplifting, and edifying. From the moment Lucy steps foot through to the land in the wardrobe I’m stepping through a portal in my mind. I’m there with her as if I could actually remember being there. I’m exploring the land, feeling my heart race at the thought of being in the presence of Aslan, curious at what strange creatures I might meet next, and threatened by the White Witch and her evil hatred.

I, like many kids, identified with the Pevensies. In a worldly sense they are nothing special. Their collective fate is, though. Through higher providence they are destined to be kings and queens, but it’s by sticking together and facing the challenges that they persevere. They could have ostracized Ed, or he could have been unable to face up to his mistakes; instead love and forgiveness make them stronger.

With Alsan (the high king of the land) out of the picture the soldiers need someone to guide them. Peter is the most unlikely general, yet though divine plan he leads an army to victory. It’s not because he’s great, or talented, or even confident. He’s simply willing to do what needs to be done. He has no aspirations of power, no greedy desires; a reluctant hero he may be, but a hero he is.

There is religious metaphor for those that want to see it: being vessels for God’s plan, the sacrifice of Christ, the fight against the devil. I immediately saw the parallels between the story and the Bible, but I never viewed the books as religious. I didn’t even find out until long after reading the books that Lewis was a Christian. As a church-going adult I appreciate and respect the Christian imagery, but I still don’t see the stories as being religious. The movie carries that balance quite well. Adamson does not try to suppress the religious aspects, but nor does he try to make this any more of a Christian epic than is created by Lewis. Each viewer can decide what to see in the subtext of the story.

I am impressed by the closeness of the movie to the book. There are changes, sure, and maybe a few things that could have been better, but there are no real surprises. I knew right when to expect Tumnus, Beaver, the White Witch, and Aslan. I knew what Edmond and the witch would do, how Aslan would respond, and the exact consequences of those actions. In every major way the story unfolds exactly as I remembered it.

The war opening has been expanded which I think nicely sets up what is to come later. Adamson has said he wanted to start off big, shrink to the size of a wardrobe, then expand slowly. This technique works extremely well and is much more cinematic than a straight story translation would have been. Lucy’s discovery of the wardrobe is changed a bit, but is close enough to the original events that I didn’t notice the difference immediately. Even when I did catch it I wasn’t bothered by the change. The only part that sticks in my mind as needing improvement is the Turkish Delight scene. Ed’s addiction isn’t shown to the degree it’s described in the book. This magically induced craving is a big part of what drives him for the next bit of the story and should have been more intense in the movie. He just seems like any typical kid wanting any typical sweet treat. Perhaps Adamson was trying to be subtle with it, but if so went a little too far by not going far enough.

The battle gets more attention than the book version. This is understandable since without it the movie wouldn’t have as much adrenaline. The minotaurs running into battle, the centaurs charging with swords drawn: these are great images even if they are added to rather than taken from the original pages.

While there is certainly some great graphics and animation, there are numerous moments that lack. Some of the composite shots don’t look natural and some of the creatures don’t move realistically at times. I didn’t notice as much of it until I went back through the movie again watching for it. I guess that holds true most of the time, though. If you’re watching for the effects and know where to look, you’re almost always going to find it. I do think Adamson does a great job with mixing techniques. This doesn’t give the viewer as much time to dwell on any one bit of animation and creates more of an illusion of realism.

I am quite impressed with Aslan, the Beavers, and Tumnus’ legs. These are exceptionally well done and very realistic. My favorite monster is the Minotaur, although the Griffins and many other creatures look great, too. Without close attention Narnia delivers most of the time.

Acting is not perfect although it’s far from bad. The kids falter, not always selling every shot, though overall I think they carry their roles nicely. Adamson was creative in eliciting natural reactions that he translated to the screen. Often what you see is the way the kids (particularly the youngest, Georgie) would really react. The creature voices are nicely done. There has never been a better professor than Jim Broadbent. I would completely believe this is how he really is if not for the comments from Adamson about watching him change into the role. James McAvoy is outstanding giving a nice balance of humanity and mystery to such a strange creature. Tilda Swinton makes a chilling Jadis. I was part of a discussion once over whether or not Tilda has the physical beauty to be Jadis. I think her hatred makes her much less attractive than she really is which means she gets that attitude across well. I think Ed sees her as beautiful, at least at first, only seeing her as she really is after being ensnared.

Music. WOW. I love movie scores. I own numerous scores and collections of themes, and few have stayed in my CD player as consistently as this one has. I’m blown away by the beauty of the opening titles, the lullaby, and the main theme. I think many movies can do without opening credits. I love the way Star Wars and Lord of the Rings have titles and nothing else (scrolling text does not count). However, in LWW, the train ride feels like a musical collage, perfect for the plot and pacing with absolutely exceptional music. I barely notice the credits at all. I highly recommend the soundtrack.

This is a magical movie. It does the book justice and enhances the concept of Narnia. While not everyone can wrap their minds around the fantasy of it, young and old alike flock to this story because of all that it offers, ultimately proving hopeful and positive.

Content:
This is quite appropriate for younger audiences. There is no sex, language, or nudity whatsoever. The violence is tame: mostly bloodless with the killing blows usually off screen. I wouldn’t put the violence on even as high a level as the original Star Wars movies.

DVD:
There are at least 2 versions of the DVD: 1 disc and 2 disc. It sounds like the 2 disc is the same as the 1 only with an additional DVD and different packaging although I can’t be absolutely certain about that having not seen it for myself. There may also be different screen formats of the 1 disc available. Wal Mart was offering an exclusive package that included a book. I couldn’t find the book packaged with the 2 disc version so you do have to make a choice. There is a bigger price difference between the two versions than I’ve seen in the past so you’ll need to decide if the extras are worth the additional money.

Packaging on this is more creative than most I’ve seen. It’s a standard plastic case in an unusual box. The front flap of the box opens to reveal a wardrobe. This is a sleeve that holds the plastic case the front of which is the door of the wardrobe. Removing the case reveals the land of Narnia beyond the now open door in the sleeve. The entire sleeve of the plastic case is an image of the wardrobe and is quite lovely.

Inserts with chapter lists are becoming increasingly rare for some reason. LWW has one that is nicely done. I’m not sure that a map of the menus is necessary, they’re nothing difficult to navigate, but I like having printed materials with the DVD and this one looks nice. Speaking of printed materials there are 2 postcard sized full-color concept paintings included. One is Ed and Jadis, the other is the other 3 siblings, Aslan, and other creatures.

Disney is bad about putting previews before their movies. I’m very interested in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (I wrote a glowing review of the first one), but I don’t want to watch the preview every time I put the LWW DVD in. In fact, I haven’t watched the preview at all BECAUSE of that! I’ll turn the DVD on while I get dinner or a drink, then turn the TV on when I’m ready to get settled, but you can just use the chapter skip if you want to be less dramatic about it.

There are 2 commentaries: 1 by the child stars and the director, and 1 by members of the crew. Both are pretty good. The kids are entertaining and Adamson talks about how he elicited genuine reactions from them in many of the scenes. The other one is informative. I stayed completely interested in both.

The pop-up facts aren’t quite as good. They cover the life of Lewis, the relation of the different books in the series, and other facts, but there are large spans of no info, and some of it is repetitive.

The bloopers are fun as such things so often are. Some of the shots cut away too quickly, but some great moments have been captured.

The menus feature some lovely landscape video and music. An Easter Egg (on the main menu highlight the lion emblem) removes the menu portion leaving only the video on screen. It will loop as long as you want it to. It’s a rather relaxing screen saver.

The last feature on disc 1 is the previews interesting mostly for the menu animation on that page.

Disc 2 is full of good stuff for the Narnia fanatics like myself. There are 2 main groups: behind the scenes stuff and the world of Narnia.

There are several behind the scenes clips. Adamson talks about his vision and method of working as well as the hiring process; the kids talk about getting hired, working with each other, and practicing; others clips deal with the weapons, creature costumes and the actors inside them, human costumes, production design, photography (lighting and framing), editing (with animatics and previews), music composition, production (costs and obstacles), and a look at the frozen river scene including creating the set, the miniatures, rehearsal, shooting, and CG.

Two sets of features deal with the creatures of Narnia. One looks at them in movie terms while the other looks at them in the context of the story and includes artwork and passages from the book. You can go between the two lists by hitting the wardrobe icon at the bottom.

A CS Lewis biography takes a brief look at the writer. It focuses mainly on his childhood and the Narnia stories. If you like this and want to know more you might check out Beyond Narnia.

A map allows you to see the locations of Narnia in relation to each other. Selecting a location activates a video with a description of the significance of this spot and artwork of it. This one is a little weak. The map should have been more detailed. For example, one section deals with the lantern, Tumnus’ house, and the Beaver’s dam. I felt like these should have been separate instead of lumped together.

Lastly is a timeline of events. It’s basically an explanation of the 15 years the kids were in Narnia verses the seconds on Earth. Most of this isn’t covered in this story so it helps explain some of it to those not as familiar with Narnia or anyone just needing a reminder.

Final Thoughts:
This is a magical movie. It’s worth repeat viewings, and has a good bit of bonus material for additional entertainment. I wouldn’t waste the money on a rental. Go ahead and buy it.