Director:
Andrew Anderson

Cast:
Tilda Swinton
Jim Broadbent
James McAvoy
Liam Neeson

Official URL:

http://www.narnia.com

Country: USA
Rating: PG
Studio Name: Walt Disney Pictures
Running Time: 2 hr 0 mins
Release Date: December 9, 2005

Critics's Rating:
(3 Reels out of 4) 

December 9, 2005

By Veronica Mixon

C.S. Lewis’s thrilling childhood adventure. THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE leaps to the screen in an exciting, imaginative way from Andrew Adamson, the director of Shrek in the mix of animation and live action. This epic tale of good versus evil is told against the backdrop of the Second World War when the four Pevensie children – Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter – are spirited away from the Nazi blitz on London to the peaceful English countryside. There in a large manor house, while playing hide-and-go-seek, Lucy (Georgie Henley) opens the door to an old wardrobe and accidentally discovers the magically land of Narnia.

Narnia is a frozen icy land where Lucy meets Mr. Tummus, the faun (James McAvoy), who befriends her despite great danger and urges her to return to her own world. Once, she does return her brothers and sister don’t believe her until the obstinate Edmond (Skander Keynes) is tricked into revealing their existence to Jadis, the White Witch (Tilda Swinton, Constantine). She has ruled over the land for over one hundred years and she knows that the appearance of the human children means that her reign will soon come to end unless she can destroy them quickly. Of course when all of the children visit Narnia, they discover Mr. Tummus is missing and that anyone who helps them will be hunted by the White Witches evil pack of wolves. Father Christmas (James Cosmo) does advice them to seek out Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), a powerful Lion who leads the animal world. Peter (William Moseley) suit up and trains as a warrior and prepares to bravely lead a massive army of dynamitic creatures.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE is a morality tale of brotherly love, jealousy, betrayal and spiritual uplift. The kids, who are left alone due to war, discover inner courage and bravery. They work through conflicts like death and rebirth. Director Andrew Adamson has forged an exciting world of animation and live action. The battle scenes are spectacular and as powerful as those in Braveheart. The various creatures – centaurs, fauns, etc., will delight the audience’s imagination.

Tilda Swinton, her pale luminous complexion and wooded tree-like hair forming a crown of icy thorns, is superb as the inhuman queen of coldness and death. Her frozen snow kingdom parallels the evil Nazis that the British are fighting in the human world. The children – Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell and William Moseley – are charming and wonderful. While THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WTICH AND THE WARDROVE may not have the exact darkness and epic supernatural fever of Lord of the Ring trilogy, its young cast as heroes will appeal to kids everywhere. This film is for a younger audience who will champion the independence of children and their ability to recognize good over evil.

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