Chronicles of Narnia (tagged spoilers, at least at first)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Saw the first installment of Narnia on Friday night. I loved it!

I've been a fan of the books since I was a kid, when I was given my own box set for a birthday. I read these books countless times and have much of it memorized.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the film. They made some changes but I was fine with them. The effects were great. The acting was really good - Peter especially impressed me. I didn't take issue with any of it, which you guys know is out of character for me! See my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory rants...

My only warning is to those with very young children - there are some freaky monsters in this, even if you only see them for a moment. I was diggin' on that!

Hell, the only thing I take issue with is the Wardrobe itself - in the book, it's "a perfectly ordinary looking wardrobe", but of course in the movie it is stunning (you've seen it in all the movie posters). Isn't that always the way?

Spoiler:

I actually enjoyed one of the biggest changes, when Edmund is imprisoned with Tumnus (in the book Tumnus is already turned to stone by then). Really drew out Edmund's guilt. Fit in well with everything else.

The battles were great - making it look like children are fighting well is hard and they pulled it off.

I was so impressed with Aslan's voice and then found out it was Liam Neeson - of course!

[wendybeth]

I love the Narnia books, and am really looking forward to seeing this movie. Last night, I looked out our front door, and it occured to me that our yard looks exactly like the entrance to Narnia. It's got lots of evergreen trees and snow, and there is this lamppost at the edge of the yard that looks just like the one in the movie. I should try and get a pic of it- if I get a decent one I'll post it.

[Snowflake]

I also loved the books, but it has been eons since I've read them. Looking forward to the film, very much, but I'm trying to do King Kong this week. REALLY looking forward to this one!

WB, yes please on the photo!

Donna

[Alex]

I liked it very much (though interstingly I found Peter the weakest of the four children).

If it weren't such a strong year in the female categories I really could see an Oscar nomination for Swinton.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

I liked it very much (though interstingly I found Peter the weakest of the four children).

Heh, I agree to disagree with you. I thought Lucy was the weakest, but it's so hard to find really good child actors that are that young - plus, she had a lot more to deal with - so I forgive her for it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Tumnus is pretty cool looking...but he's no Torgo.

[wendybeth]

Saw it today- Tumnus is awesome! I thought all the actors did well, especially Swinton. I pretty much loved the movie, from beginning to end. The movie theater was packed, even though school isn't out for the holidays yet, and there were people there from all age groups. The trailer for POTC II made my mom-in-law's day, as she has a major crush on Johnny Depp.

[mistyisjafo]

I think I'm one of the few people who never even heard of the Chronicles until this year. But maybe that's because I skipped over over all the sci fi/fantasy stuff and went straight for horror as a kid. Anyways, I saw the movie over the weekend and enjoyed it. I particularly liked the White Queen.

My only issue with the movie was the screaming child a few rows in front of us. I felt so bad for the kid. He/she was terrified & screaming during the Lion sacrifice and the extended fight scene. The kid was just very young, maybe 2 or younger, and I know the family really wanted to see the movie (and maybe thought the kid did too) but at one point someone in the crowd finally shouted "Take that kid outside cant you tell he's terrified!"

Otherwise very enjoyable. Probably not really great for extremely young kids!

[cirquelover]

I loved the movie. I thought they did an excellent job and it was mostly what I had pictured in my childhood mind! Aslan looked just like I thought he should and I still wanted to cry when he sacrificed himself. Sorry, I remember crying as a child at that part.

We actually ordered the books last night so I can read them again and of course I'll make the boy read them too.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I liked the movie, didn't love it. I thought they sacrificed a lot of the urgency and pace of the book in favor of cramming it all into one or two climactic scenes. The sense of danger as they raced from the Beavers' place to the stone was so integral to the book, and that was removed.

Overall the effects were great, especially a lot of the detail stuff. But it seems that while they focused really well on making the close-up character effects top notch, they got lazy with some of the larger scenic stuff. I thought a lot of the scenes with many CG characters in one shot were sloppy and cartoony. Plus there were a couple close-ups of the kids with really poor digital backgrounds behind them. That lack of dedication to the whole digital picture kinda disctracted me.

These flaws weren't enough for me to not enjoy the movie. Overall, it was very well done. But they will keep me from considering it a "great" movie. It was a very good movie.