Saturday, December 10, 2005

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA! WOOO! IT WAS SOOOO GOO!

Okay...now let us analyse why it was so goo...(because if I didn't Mr. Rich wouldn't give me credit for my blogs :D)

Okay I do have to admit, I am very biased when it comes to this movie, like I would have liked it even if it had sucked because first of all I love the books and because the idea of Narnia is so cool man!...honestly who wouldn't want to find a magical world inside their own closet? (this is the part when the little kid inside of you jumps up and down saying, "oh me! I would! yay!") And C.S. Lewis tapped right into that child inside all of us when he wrote these books.

The story of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is that of Forgiveness through Sacrific, as demonstrated in one scene that is a not too subtle "rip-off" of the Crucifixtion of Jesus Christ (I'm going to hell for that one...). However This is not the only reference to Jesus, God, or Satan in the story. The entire book/movie is knee deep in Christian Mythology. One striking example is when Jadis, the Ice Queen of Narnia, claims Edmund's life is forfeit and belongs to her because of the Treachery he has commited, an allusion to Satan's claim on the souls of sinners after death without the intervention of God. Through Aslan's self sacrific in the afore mentioned "Crucifixtion Scene" Edmund's sin of betrayal was expunged, and he is permitted to live.

The movie, while stayed very very true to the origional story line of the book, still took a few liberties and changed a lot of the motivation for the characters. For instance, in the book Peter, Lucy, and Susan are all "gung-ho!" for going and saving the land of Narnia without, it seems, a second thought as to what the repercussions might be. Which doesn't make that much sense considering that the whole story takes place while England is in the middle of World War II...you'd think that they would be a tad more, I don't know, weary of trouble/battle/odd countries in old professor's wardrobes? The movie does a better job at expressing the concern that Peter, Lucy, and Susan have for the fact that there seems to be a magical country that defies all logic in their new guardian's wardrobe, and their urgency to find their missing brother, Edmund.

Another change they made that I was very happy for was that the battle scene took place in the daylight, which, I'll admit, did detract from the believability of the Computer Graphics, but was a refreshing contrast from most other epic battle sequences. The Soundtrack was amazing, and definetly did it's job in caprturing the emotions of the specific scene as well as manipulating your own (I was nearly brought to tears at one point in the film just because of the music alone). The Cinematography was both enriching and disapointing. It was very basic, but tastefully done, except for the random shots that I like to call, "Odes to Lord of the Rings" during the battle sequence.

I was impressed with which new comers Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), Anna Popplewell (Susan), and the oddly attractive William Moseley (Peter) were able to portray the innocence with the quirky brittish charm that made this such a great children's movie. I admit I was severely disapointed when I learned that actor Brian Cox was not going to be doing to voice of Aslan but, rather, Liam Neeson. I wasn't let down, Aslan was still as Majestic as ever.

The thing that really sort of...chaped me the most, was that all of the children seemed so...inept with their weapons. Lucy is what 6 years old? She shouldn't have been given a weapon anyway. Susan had the "I'm cool 'cause I have a bow and arrow." attitude, and both Peter and Edmund just seemed really awkward with their swords...They all seemed really awkward. What I'm saying is if you can't use them, don't try. Or at least rehearse more until you feel comfortable holding them.

Okay now I'm rambling...To make a long essay short (too late for that) The movie was great, the acting was great, the story is great, Aslan is my hero, William Moseley is attractive (even though he can't carry a sword), and God bless C.S. Lewis! I'd give this movie four and a half stars out of five, and I highly recommend that everyone watch it.

3 comments:

Alex Iskandar said...

I'm going to try catching the movie soon ... that along with Harry Potter, King Kong etc. Have been missing out on the movies :-(

thesexyswede said...

I am such a movie person...like...I looooove movies. I'm in a film Lit. class and oh man...it's like my favorite class.

wheatable said...

AH!! I LOVE NARNIA!! WOOT WOOT!!