Though skewing decidedly younger than its literary-fantasy brethren of Lord of the Rings and the latter Harry Potters, the first Narnia film deserves to be part of the conversation of worthy lit-to-film fantasy adaptations. An altogether lovely, epic production that effectively captures the Narnia of my imagination, the film works hard to enchant and does so enough to be memorable. Its ulitmate success, however, may lie in whether or not its audience is able to tolerate the inconsistent charms of the Pevensey children.

As good an adaption of the classic as can be had probably, and it still loses quite a bit of the magic that is the book. Tila Swinton as the White Witch is a great villain though.

Diet, non-fat, caffeine free, low sodium Lord Of The Rings lite.

Decemberists #38

Posh kids interdimensional adventure.

To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of this movie. Much has to do with the performances, which I personally find insipid, even Tilda Swintons Jadis the White Witch.

What it does get right is some absolutely beautifully rendered creatures; Aslan the lion, cheetahs, rhinos, wolves, foxes- all look so realistic they are a joy to behold. From those to the fantasy creatures- sunlight glistening from a griffins feathers as it soars through the air, minotaurs that are non CGI, and the perfect blend of man and horse for the centaurs.

If they had just taken care to invest a little bit more effort into the performances, I daresay it would be one for the ages. As it stands, it's an average fantasy movie thatmade bank on the back of mosts childhood experiences reading the book.

Smart. But lazy.

[English/ Spanish]

Having been exposed again to this movie due to unfathomable circumstances, I was pleasantly surprised about how solid its first act actually is. Once the action is set in the valley camp and Asland makes His first majestic appearance, interest declines in derivative visual formulas inherited from Jackson's take on LoTR. Thanks the Lord we have Tilda Swinton to make the difference.

Habiéndome expuesto a esta película por circunstancias insondables, me he visto agradablemente sorprendido por la solidez de su primer acto. Una vez que la acción se sitúa en el campamento del valle y Asland realiza Su primera aparición majestuosa, el interés disminuye en fórmulas visuales derivativas de la aproximación de Jackson a El Señor de los Anillos. Gracias al Señor tenemos a Tilda Swinton para marcar la diferencia.

I loved the books, and I think this movie is a pretty good adaptation. The acting isn't phenomenal, but the casting was right.

PS, This is THE movie that got me into movie scores. No, it's not technically profound, but it's very passionate music.

I liked this, its a hard book to film after all

An exciting way to start the series, with a deliciously evil turn from Tilda Swinton.

Looks amazing and the cgi didnt want to make me claw my eye's out. But seemed very rushed even though it was 2 hour's long. Defiantly needed to be longer

The books surely deserved better than this half-arsed Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings hybrid. Full of irritating C-list celebrities doing "offbeat" turns (Ray Winstone, Dawn French, Jim Broadbent - they're only really missing Ruby Wax from the all-time Axis of Hate), needlessly stapled-on action scenes, dodgy effects and the need to make every single damn line a knowing quip.

Even the made-for-a-tenner BBC serial and that weird animated one where everyone's in flares are better than this, which is a shame as the trickiest bit - the child cast - is done well.

The first is the best. Well done adaptation indeed.