The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Altho I hate Oscars mostly because of the winners, in this case, the Oscar rightfully belongs to this masterpiece. It is child friendly, but at the same moment, it is mature and it is one of the best movies to watch with your family on a Christmas Eve after a nice dinner.

I remember seeing this movie over ten years ago in the cinema and even back then I thought it was a great movie. Even though it's not as good as the book (which has always remained a classic in children's literature), I consider this film to be The Lord of the Rings for kids and like the Lord of the Rings, it was filmed in New Zealand as well and some aspects reminded me of the Lord of the Rings trilogy like the effects or the action scenes or the fact that it all took place in a fantasy world. I enjoyed all the actors that played the Pevensie children and I loved Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan. I'm very glad that I read the book before I saw the film. I also enjoyed the two other sequels. But I think the Narnia movie trilogy is kind of underrated. While it's nowhere near as good The Lord of the Rings trilogy, they deserve more credit.

When I first saw "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in theaters, I left with a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth. The reason? At the time, I couldn't help but comparing it to the "Lord of the Rings" series. However, after reading Tolkien's classic novel again and then re-re-watching this movie, I can now see it as a great adaptation that is very true to the source material.For a basic plot summary, this film tells the story of the Pevensie family siblings, who are shipped off into the English countryside to avoid the carnage of WWII. While at the mansion of their eccentric uncle, they find a wardrobe that mysterious leads to another world called Narnia. Little Lucy (Georgia Henley) goes in first and meets a Faun named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy). Then Edmund (Skandar Keynes) stumbles in and meets a much more nefarious personality...the White Witch (Tilda Swinton), self-proclaimed "Queen of Narnia". Later on, older siblings Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley) discover Narnia and find themselves in a conflict that they themselves have been deeply prophesized within.The Narnia books were made for children (but well-written enough for adults to enjoy the experience), and that is exactly what this movie is like. If you try (like I once did) to compare it to LOTR, it will never measure up because you are not comparing like quantities. LOTR is an epic drama, while the Chronicles are a lighter-hearted children's drama. This film really captures that spirit, what with the great special effects, the sibling interplay, and just the general whimsical- ness of the overall production. It's "played straight", don't get me wrong, but there is a lot of fun involved too.What might just stand out the most, though, is the acting. Little Georgia as Lucy almost steals the show at some points with her incredible emotional range for such a young child, while Skandar's Edmund is spot-on as the mischievous Edmund (a character who is so important in showing that even in Narnia it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad sometimes). Also, casting Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan, the true ruler of Narnia, was a stroke of genius. Each time the great lion speaks, it will send chills down your spine.So, even though I didn't fully appreciate this movie when it first came out, I can now see it as a faithful adaptation to its source novel. Both mediums are meant for children and not to be compared to older, more adult fare. I don't know of a child alive who wouldn't be captivated by this movie, and I'm sure that's just the way C.S. Lewis would have wanted it.

The movie was amazing. Absolutely astonishing. It gives me chills every time! But I didn't rate it 10/10 for a reason: the little minor details they missed in the movie. The movie stuck to the book pretty well for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The plot is definitely the same. In both the movie and the book, Lucy was the first one to go into the Wardrobe; Edmund was a jerk and teased Lucy; Edmund betrayed the others to the Witch, for Turkish Delights; and the rest is very much the same. Really, for this comparison, it'll be easier to note the differences rather than the similarities. There weren't many differences; however, they were mostly subtle differences, but there were some major differences. Like when Mr. Tumnus was in the prison with Edmund, in the movie. In the book, Mr. Tumnus had been turned into stone before Edmund had even gotten to Jadis' house. Also, in the book, the fox never helped the Pevensie children like he did in the movie; in fact, in the book, they never even really met. The fox had a cameo role in the book: he was there when Jadis had found a group of woodland creatures feasting on food that was given to them by Father Christmas; however, in the movie, this was never mentioned. The fox was, however, turned to stone in both the movie and the book. In addition: in the movie, Lucy Pevensie first went into the Wardrobe when the Pevensie children were all playing hide-and-seek. In the book, however, she first went into it when they were exploring the house. Also, in the movie, all four Pevensie children went into Narnia when they had smashed a ball into a window and they were trying to hide from the Professor's maid. In the book, they were still trying to hide from the maid, but it was because they thought she had guests over, not because they were in trouble. Also, in the movie, Jadis came with a procession of her minions to Aslan to negotiate the release of Edmund. In the book, she came alone. I did enjoy, however, that the movie paid attention to the little details: the fact that the Pevensie children never fully closed the wardrobe door, "Because it is foolish to lock oneself in a wardrobe." And the fact that Digory Kirke did say, in the movie and the book, "What do they teach in school these days?" Overall, a great movie.