The Chronicles of Narnia-Better Than You Probably Expected
Snap summary: Kids leave war-torn London in 1940 to escape the bombings. They take up residence in the country home of Professor Kirke, not as slaves or anything, they’re related I think, not that important. They find a magic wardrobe, poof, off to a magical but pretty dark alternative world. Not really Star Trekish alternative universe, more like a fantasy world. Much like the one inhabited by people who are still voting for that incumbent party, of whose name we do not speak, etc. (It starts with an “R”.) The story is actually more complicated than most with the White Witch outlawing Christmas, the children Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund being given magical weapons and fighting against the White Witch in a Lord of the Rings style battle royal. Then there is the Christian elements with the Lion being sacrificed and so forth. There is a bit of moralizing and social programming but its mostly kept on the low. Narnia, obviously, gets complicated, but, and here is the good part, it keeps your interest! And, of course, at the end the precious shareholder have their life giving sequels set up and ready to go.
The visual effects show some fraying at times, but overall serve the engrossing story well enough that you really don’t notice too much and, in fact, the effects are overall rather nice. The sets and costumes truly add a ton to the film. Rich and vivid colors abound and will make this a sure fire high-definition home favorite for both kids and adults. In particular the snowy scenes will be an awesome treat on a home theater in high-definition.
All four of the main child actors give solid performances, and in particular Tilda Swinton as the White Witch and Kiran Shah as Ginarrbrik really steal a few scenes as both play their parts to near perfection.
While the $160-$180 million dollar budget seems a little excessive for ultimately ends up on the screen, the roughly $700 million dollar box-office take will erase the sticker shock that studio executives felt signing off on the budget. Hopefully, the sequels will surpass this pleasant surprise.
Story A-
Acting A
Visuals A
Originality/Innovation A
Enjoyability Grade A
Home Theater/HD Factor A (This will look great in HD on a home theater.)
Overall Grade A
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