7 out of 10
 

Adeptation of a Popular Children's Novel

In recent years adapting children’s novels into movies has become popular. With Harry Potter and the "Series of Unfortunate Events" being both best selling novels and top grossing films, it was only a matter of time until the C.S. Lewis seven-book epic was translated for the screen.
With the help of the step-son of the author, the first of the series movies seems to potential.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the
story of how little girl and brothers and sisters discover a world beyond the despair to which they are used. Set in World War 2 England, Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) and her siblings are sent to live with a professor in his country. When she is playing hide and seek one day Lucy stumbles on a wardrobe that turns out to be a gateway to the land of Narnia. Lucy then tries to convince her siblings of the magical land she visited but is told she is lying. It is only when the group of them are hiding from their protectors that they are all transported to Narnia. In Narnia, they are believed to be the piece of a prophecy that is mean to free the people from the evil rule of the White Witch (Tilda Swinton).

The process of adapting a popular children’s novel for the big screen is a difficult task especially with such beloved series like Narnia. Andrew Adamson takes the great strides to insure that the familiarity of the novels is not lost for quickly paced action scenes. His style is quite watchable as is this film. He doesn’t throw you directly into the fantasy world but allows to slowly get into what Lucy and her siblings go through. Henley as Lucy is not cute but someone you’d want to follow on her adventures not only for her honesty but her sense of adventure. Skandar Keynes plays Edmund the younger male child with both the mischievousness of a teenager but also as a more than one tone character as the film progresses. Anna Popplewell is Lucy’s older sister who acts as the voice of reason to the rest of family and is still handled effectively. Finally William Moseley is Peter the eldest child. Moseley plays with the combination of maturity but still with some childlike qualities underneath. The special effects on the whole were well done though you can tell they spent most of the money and time on the computer generated character rather than the fight scenes.

If you are looking for something with adventure, fantasy and nothing really deep or heavy to think about after, this film is for you. There are some scary scenes that younger children might not be able to handle.