DARKMATTERS - The Mind of Matt

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Sunday, December 04, 2005

Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe Review


"98, 99, 100... coming... ready or not - film of the year 2005!!"


The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (PG)
Dir. Andrew Adamson

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

What if that old wardrobe you’ve in your spare room was actually the doorway to an incredible ‘other world’… A place where the animals could talk, fantastical creatures like centaurs, fawns and griffins existed and it soon became apparent that you were destined to fulfill an ancient prophecy to rid the land from an all consuming evil?
Sounds like the stuff of epic fantasy legend and the good news is that whilst you might not find such a doorway in any of your household furniture – from today the only door you’ll need to enter this world is that of your nearest cinema…


Yes, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an enchanting, exciting, gorgeous envisioning of the much loved book by C.S. Lewis. I must confess that I once ‘trod the boards’ in a low budget version of this tale as the goat legged, fawn Mr. Tumnus. And I was worried that a big budget, live action / CGI retelling of the story would not be able to deliver the one thing that cinema at its very best can conjure – pure wonderment. Well, may I be turned to stone by an evil white witch for my fleeting doubts, Andrew ‘Shrek 1 &2’ Adamson has pulled it off, and in very special style – this is my film of 2005 by a giant lions’ leap.


You want quality family filmmaking that touches your very soul? Fancy some rousing battle scenes that play out like Lord of Rings but with more heart? How about perfect casting of ‘evil herself’ or Jadis the White Witch as she likes to be called in Tilda Swinton? It’s all here… The majestic lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) truly is the most impressive virtually created creature ever and even though it pains me, I have to admit that James McAvoy’s Tumnus is pretty much perfect. Other highlights are Mr and Mrs Beaver (Ray Winstone and Dawn French) who bring some Shrek style fun to the story, bonus scenes not found in the book and production values that demonstrate quality and a real love for the subject matter in every frame of footage.
The four ‘Pevensie’ siblings - Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) – are all good in the children’s roles too.


This is the only truly ‘must see’ film of the year, you owe it to yourself to visit Narnia as soon as you can!!

Darkmatt Rating: öööööö (my film of 2005!!)

Click this: First impressions including some cool photos

or this:
earlier post about chronicles of narnia inc trailer link

or maybe even my: harry potter goblet of fire review

Reviews of other films and stuff you might want to read indexed here

3 comments:

rach said...

OK OK I wanted to see it already!!!!

Nice to see a post without a spoiler though. (ha ha!) Am hoping to get to the cinema this weekend.

Would be interested to know what you think of Keeping Mum (which i have seen) and Mrs Henderson (which I want to see) too....

Darrell said...

We really enjoyed it. Of course, there is no way that any movie can completely please fans... especially fans of Narnia, since all of us have already "filmed" it in our minds as we read Lewis's books. Still, Adamson's vision was both faithful and new, and well worth seeing. One of the best, if not the very best, films of the year.

Anonymous said...

I have seen Narnia three times and I am itching for it to come out on DVD already. One more week! April 4th! I'm right there with you, as Narnia was the must see, best movie of 2005!