I just saw a preview showing of the newest LW&W movie, and I have to say I was very impressed.
I was a dye-hard Narnia fan in my youth, and had all seven books practically memorized by the time I graduated from high school (and wore out at least three sets of copies reading them over and over again). I have also seen a couple of play adaptations of LW&W, as well as the BBC video version.
This newest movie is very true to the original story. There are a few gloss-overs here and there, and a few liberties in interpretation, but the major pieces are all there, and nothing is really completely misinterpreted.
What was really amazing, though, were the special effects. The griffons, fawns, and centaurs looked like griffons, fawns, and centaurs. The beavers, cheetahs, polar bears, and tigers looked like they used trained animals, they were so realistic. They didn’t do as good a job with Aslan, though. The hair and facial expressions were extremely good, but there was almost no muscle movement in his hips and legs as he walked–my 11yo son said he thought Aslan looked like he was made of clay.
The Queen was also very well done, although she didn’t really match my imagination’s picture of her. The makeup artists do some very interesting things with her hair, especially during the final battle scene.
Okay, it’s time to dig out my “There’s no place like Narnia” bumper sticker again…
Because I’m the adult leader of my church’s High School Youth Group, I was sent a DVD from the group marketing the film. The DVD has a nine minute preview of the movie.
IT LOOKS WONDERFUL!
I showed it to my Youth Group at our meeting this past Sunday, and they loved it. High school senior boys loved the battle and all the monsters. Tilda Swinton rocks as the White Witch.
That same trailer is also available for U.S. Starz On Demand subscribers. My wife yelled at me the other day for checking it out. Told me I was going to spoil it for me and her…
I saw the movie at a preview on Saturday. It was really good and for the most part, very faithful to the book.
Spoilerish things ahead:
The open segment was of the kids and mom at home getting bombed by what looked like a Sega™ WWII game. The graphics and art direction really set us up for disappointment which was nicely turned around by the CGI of the rest of the movie. The family run out of the house to what should be a small bunker (but has a wooden door which might keep rogue chickens out) when Edmund decides he must have a picture of his father in military uniform out of the house. Peter chases after him and after getting the picture, brings him into the bunker. The children are then taken to the train station 9 and 3/4 (ok, not quite, but it looks like it almost).
The movie progresses and pretty much follows the book. Some good humor is injected and sprinkled throughout. My favorite part was the shaking of snow off Mr Tumnus’ hooves.
One scene from the book that I noticed missing was when the witch’s sled starts to have problems trudging through the quickly melting winter. A friend I saw it with elaborated on that point and mentioned that the rest of the scene, where the witch comes across animals who had been visited by Father Christmas was nixed as well.
A warning for parents who plan on bringing the real young ones to the theater. There is a scene that might scare the dickens out of 'em. When Edmund first goes to the Witch’s castle and is making his way through the statues, the wolf jumps out and pins him down. We had quite a few screams and a couple kids started crying around us.
The film clocked in at about 2 hours and twenty minutes.
This caught me by surprise. I did have my kids and my daughter’s friend with me on a school night, but we didn’t get home until after 10 because the movie was so long. However, I didn’t ever get the impression that it was too long,
Besides stpauler, any of you who have seen it have opinions on taking small children? After I showed the trailer (it was on the first Lost DVD) to my brother, he started reading the books to my 5 year old niece. I’m wondering about taking her to see it.
Real air-raid shelters - the ones in families’ own back yards - were indeed much like that. They weren’t intended to stand up to a direct hit, only to be a smaller and safer place to be than a house, and not too easy for random debris to knock down.
When we saw it, there were LOTS of small kids there. My kids (11yo and 14yo) were probably the oldest ones there. Most of them were definitely in the 4 to 7 range. (We were at a Radio Disney preview showing, so that’s the typical target audience.)
There are a couple of shocking moments, and several kids were wailing after the Stone Table scene (with sorrow, not fear). There is no blood, although there are several killings-by-sword. Some of the creatures in the witch’s army were scary, but nothing worse than the typical kid would normally see for Halloween.
If the child is already familiar with the story, I don’t think there would be anything in the movie to upset her.
Overall, it was great - I was not disappointed, and I was prepared to be. Here are the things I liked and my criticisms (more spoilers, obviously):
The actor who played Edmund was convincing as a sulky pre-teen, jealous of his older brother. I thought his performance was weaker later in the movie, after he is rescued from the witch. On the other hand, I thought Peter was pretty good throughout, but especially in the second half. The standout performance, however, was Lucy (Georgie Henley). She was perfect.
Although they kept some dialogue from the book, I was disappointed that some of my favorite lines were left out. For example, when Peter asks Mr. Beaver if Aslan is safe, and Beaver says, “Safe? 'Course he ain’t safe. But he’s good.” There was another line I noticed missing, but I can’t recall it now. Also, “Battles are ugly when women fight” was changed to “Battles are ugly.”
My biggest worry was the talking animals, but they looked fantastic. Especially the beavers. I caught myself thinking “Mr. and Mrs. Beaver remind me of [a couple I know].” I kind of forgot they were beavers.
Tilda Swinton as the White Witch was excellent. Not at all how I had pictured her, but cruel and icy to perfection.
I’m not so sure the London bombing scene at the beginning really worked for me. Maybe I didn’t need it because I had read the books. I’m not sure.
There are a lot of shots or scenes that are too similar to ones we’ve seen in other movies - for example, the party trudging across the snowy field (LOTR); hiding in a depression in the ground from someone coming down the road (LOTR); the big battle scene (LOTR/Braveheart). The coronation scene made me think of the end of Star Wars.
As far as kids seeing it, I think kids 7 and up or so would be ok. There are a couple of scary scenes, and Maugrim the wolf jumps out unexpectedly at least twice, but the battle scenes and Aslan’s sacrifice are pretty blood-free and most or all of the stabbing and slashing happens off-camera. There is lots of nudity (the Beavers, the cheetahs, even Aslan!). Mr. Tumnus, however, is wearing a scarf
Favorite line:
Edmund: “Easy, horsie!”
Horse: “Actually, my name is Philip.” (hmm, it’s funnier in context).
Any questions ?
The girlfriend and I just saw it, and we both thought it sucked. Too slow, cut all of the good urgency out from the book, and spent entirely too much time making the blatant Christian symbolism even more blatant. Thoroughly, thoroughly, thoroughly dissapointing. I loved these books as a child, and I was very eager to see it based on the trailers and sneak peaks, but it didn’t even come close to delivering, imho.
I will say that I was impressed with the gryphons. The animation team(s) who put them together deserve a round or 4.
