#26 - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Lion Jesus can't save us
The first Narnia film follows four young siblings who discover a magical world called Narnia. In it, they learn they are part of a magical prophecy to save and protect Narnia. For reference, I did not grow up watching the Narnia films or reading the C.S. Lewis book series of the same name. Going into it, I just knew it was a fantasy world with light themes of Christianity.
The film is directed by Andrew Ralph Adamson, who also directed the first two Shrek films. While Shrek is fantastic, I don’t think Adamson’s fantasy touch translated well at all to live action.
Our characters are introduced in England, struggling to survive Nazi air raids. However, this aspect of their life is almost never mentioned again outside of a throwaway line about their mother sending them away to avoid the war. While the opening harrowing scene of one of the boys running for a picture of his father—who was sent to war—was compelling, the father is barely mentioned again. It feels like the opening was added to give emotional grounding to the story, but the film seems to forget this by the end of the fantasy epic.
While the story itself lacked depth, the performances followed suit. The two brothers, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Peter (William Moseley), gave flat performances. Even in “intense” argument scenes, the duo left me unimpressed. The oldest sister, Susan (Anna Popplewell), gave the weakest performance and also had the least to do. The youngest sibling, Lucy (Georgie Henley), managed to give the best performance, being an adorable and earnest little girl.
While the script didn’t help these actors, the flat performances made the film a slog to get through. The worst performance, surprisingly, came from the Evil Ice Queen (Tilda Swinton). Despite her experience, Swinton’s portrayal was one-note and lacked the menace or depth that could have made the character memorable.
It’s hard to say if the performances are solely to blame or if it’s a combination of uninspired acting and a poor script. Ironically, the best performances in this film came from CGI animals with strong voice work. Mr. Beaver (Ray Winstone) finally brought some life to this mundane film, though he was only around for the first half.
While the CGI effects were impressive for the time, the over-reliance on them took me out of the film. The final battle, for example, is dominated by digital animals fighting each other, which made it feel cold and unengaging. Some practical effects were used—such as the centaurs’ heads—and the miniature work is impeccable. However, learning about how these scenes were made was far more interesting than watching them unfold.
With no connection to the characters and the overuse of CGI, Narnia felt like a cold and empty world that I have no desire to revisit. It didn’t feel like a magical world where anything was possible; instead, it came across as a generic fantasy setting with forgettable characters.
The Christian symbolism, while present, wasn’t enough to save the film. Lion Jesus (voiced by Liam Neeson) being resurrected and the Turkish Delight representing original sin felt shallow in execution. While I haven’t read the books, I imagine C.S. Lewis uses the symbolism to elevate the story while crafting a unique fantasy world—something the film adaptation utterly fails to do.
Add to this a bloated two-hour runtime, and you have a dull, uninteresting mess that can only be enjoyed through nostalgia goggles.
1/4.