Son of Adam and daughters of Eve and more. C.S. Lewis was known to be a devout Christian so I don't think it's all a coincidence.

I work as an editor for Baba, so I often see these reviews prior to the film's release.

I'm stunned he gave it an A. Just stunned.

I expected one thing based on his rave for the White Witch and ended up seeing a joke on screen instead.

So it can be jewish. I noticed the christian undertones, all i'm saying is that hte movie to me looked like it followed more "hero journey" guidelines rather than christian ones.

No it can't. We're not allowed to depict human imagery when referring to God. Certainly its been invoked, but never that direct. And its pretty common knowledge that Aslan is resurrected, that the stone table (that cracks) is like the stone tablets, and so forth. I never had all that big an issue with it in the book, and chances are it wasn't all that heightened in the movie. Its the pretty common story of corruption through earthly comforts (Turkish Delight? You'll rule the land), the first coming, miraculous feats of redemption, unbreakable rules, and the women stay behind to mourn the fallen leader even after everyone else leaves.

Just sounds to me like the direction was not focussed, and proper building of suspense fell a distant second to bright shiny objects and big bangs.

I remember loving the cartoon version, by the way. Had it taped off the tv and watched it dozens of times when I was young.

Very true, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut that doesn't necessarily build the proper dramatic tension.

It was true to the book, it works well in the book, just not in the movie. The "awe" of Aslan didn't quite translate.

That's the adaptation challenge (one of them) that I though the movie didn't meet.

That is EXACTLY what is my main complaint about the adaptation. You just never get the feeling of how almighty and powerful Aslan is. I mean in the book they can play well with thoughts (like when Edmund hears the name Aslan for the first time, he'll full of fear and disgust while the others are filled with joy and happiness), but it can't be done in the movie obviously. They did not find the right way to translate Aslan to the big screen.

Hmm... what to do... what to say... I have no goddamn clue! On one hand, it's got some great FX. On the other hand, there's too much CGI mixed with live-action, and I hate CGI characters mixed into live-action. It rarely works, and it's no exception here. It doesn't matter if Aslan looked real or not, Aslan didn't feel like he belonged in the settings most times. And talking animals never cuts it for me.

The kids are not good at all. I was cringing everytime the little one was on screen. When she and her sister discovered Tumnus, she looked like she was going to start laughing, instead of crying.

The film just doesn't really cut it for me. I enjoyed some parts, and hated other parts. One minute, I think it deserved a B/B+. The next minute, I'm leaning towards C/C-. The reviews here don't help, since it's the same. As, Cs, and a D+ from neo. I can't possibly grade this movie right now, without letting it sink in. I so wanted to like it, and I don't think I did. But... maybe I did... Final grade later.

C. It was very well done, but unfortunately it is a very family-targeted movie. I couldn't care about the characters. I'd have loved it if I was 10, though.

Exactly. It's very well-done, but the aspects of the film that I'm supposed to enjoy... I don't care at all about. Didn't like the kids, didn't really care about Narnia, didn't feel sad when I should have. The list goes on. Kids will love it.

Very average movie. In no way as good as HP or LOTR. It's way too childish, the battle at the end is a joke. But I liked Swintons performances, she was the best about Narnia. The kids were ok, but most of the time annoying. C

I thought it captured the old fashioned tone of the book quite well. It also did a great job creating epic scenery and scope, which I actually wasn't anticipating.

But really, the kids just didn't do it for me. I remember child protagonists fighting in a full scale war to be quite awesome when I was 10 and reading the book, but I think that works a lot better on paper than it does on screen. The final battle should feel crucial, but instead it just feels like the filmmakers are reaching too far to appease the kids in the audience.

There's also a bout of cringe-worthy dialogue or acting every 5 to 10 minutes.

Can't say I didn't enjoy it, though. I don't know, B? B-?

One of the best fantasy films of the year, surprised the hell outta me because I thought it looked like a boring piece of shit.

8/10 (B+)

I enjoyed it, it hsa alot of problems which were highlighted in this film, but ultimately I think the girl playing Lucy was really good and she did draw me into the story. She and Edmund were the best amoung the children, Lucy manged to be cute without me wanting to kick her.

I have to say, I fell in love with the Professor the moment I saw him. Totally not what I imagined, seems far too crazy (reminded me of Will Ferrell, haha). The movie gets an A+ just for him.

But seriously, great movie. Not fantastic (unfortunately). The beginning dragged. The kids where overall good. Better than the potter kids when they started. Great visuals...incredibly stunning. Aslan was...great, I guess. He didn't have the wow factor he should have had, but he still looked great. I aven't been this impressed with a score since Fellowship of the Ring. I've been jamming out to it all week.

A- overall.

One more disappointment in a very disappointing year.

C

It was a fun and fantastic fable.

I had a good time with this movie..sure the CGI might not have been top notch..but I didnt really care

It also wasnt really realistic..how these little kids suddenly grew the balls to slay monsters, Is beyond me..but it was fun movie.

Grade: B

Zingy, this should probably remain stickied. While it's in its third week, I think there is still enough interest to warrant a sticky.

It's me who unstickied it.

Narnia is a decent fantasy epic. The kids are good, especially the one that plays Lucy. Further, no boring drawn out sequences is a big plus.

B+

The seocnd time I went to go see it, I was expecting to be a bit more harsh on the movie and especially rhe kids. I had thought maybe I hadn't noticed any cringe-worthy acting form the kids the first time around because it was my first time and I was actually freaking seeing Narnia. I was proven wrong. I dont know how the producers did it, but they found greta kids for all four of the parts.

B+

Purely, one of the lightest and most enjoyable flicks of the year. I was wayyy surprised at how much I ended up liking it. They lacked a bit in development of the story, which lowered it's grade a bit. Still, I still had a such great time watching it. The movie was very well executed, it kept you entertained without dragging for the entire show. The CGI on the animals was good, though not amazing. HP, WOTW, and King Kong(I expect) did much better jobs on theirs. The setting/backdrop was fantastic though, from when Lucy enters Narnia, to the Ice Castle, to the giant field at the end battle, etc. I actually liked the kid actors, they were charming. I thought the girl who played Susan was the standout, while Peter Edmund and Lucy were all good as well. Aslan as said above wasn't as powerful as he should've been, while the White Witch wasn't really terrifying(though she was an excellent character regardless.) But while those were great, the best performance had to come from Thomoson the Fawn. The guy who plays him absolutely nailed it, he was completley inside that persona. I thought there were other cool supporting characters that helped as well, such as the Beavers and the The Rock/Dwayne Johnson-ish Centaur. Also, all the minotaurs and griffins in the battle were magfinicantly done. One of my favorite parts of the movie was near the end, when we got to see the 4 kid's all grown up. I thought that gave it a nice touch, and a charming way to let the movie go.

Overall, Narnia isn't a classic by any means. It's story work just isn't there. But I can tell why it's becoming so damn succesful, and why it's beating Kong. This is precisly the kind of movie that everyone wants to see, it's the perfect recipe for big-time $. No other film this year has delivered on that game-plan quite like Narnia has, it really does deserve every penny that it can collect.

Let me preface my review of Narnia by saying, I read and didn't enjoy the books, and I am an outright opponent of all the bad deeds done in the name of christianity, lo these past two millenia.

That being said, I love this movie Narnia!

Now this is the epic fantasy movie I have been waiting to see. I have waded through the mire of the aborted adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, but have finally reached the cool, clear, deep water of Narnia. It is fantastic!

The acting was outstanding - I will forevermore follow the career of Georgie Henley, who played Lucy, the youngest sister, just as I have that of actors like Christina Ricci and Jodie Foster. The other kids were great, and of course, the incomparable Tilda Swinton here continues her assault upon the throne of Meryl Streep.

The special effects were used to excellent effect here, unlike the other FX heavy movie out now (I will not sully this post by mentioning it by name) - the animal characters were awesome and believable. The world of Narnia itself was palpable and real.

And, even for me, a non-believer, the christ story was extremely well told here, truer to my reading of the bible, than that demonstrated by most of the so-called church christians I run into. The supremely karmatic words of Jesus are indeed told true in this cinematic telling of the tale.

90 minutes to go in 2005, and Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe vaults onto my top ten list for the year...

All hail Narnia!

6 out of 5.

Holy crap! Simply fantastic im very surprised i liked it so much

THe kids did a very nice job, the CGI was great.
I saw it dubbed in spanish so the talking animals didnt do so great, ill prolly see it again in English

A-

Hey! How come the Narnia thread is unstickied again? It's leading the box office!

Everything seemed to flow together so nicely. All the scenes fit perfectly (except the odd Narnia lullaby scene). The characters were all very likable. Deep Roy as the Queen's minion was fantastic. The visuals were stunning, and nothing seemed like green screen. The ending battle was amazing, as was all of the animal CGI. Top of the line.

Grade: B+