The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Oh my... Never has there been a movie that I wanted more desperately to like. As a matter of fact, I have seen The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in theatres twice now, and would see it again, if given the chance. Needless to say, I loved the movie, but my view of it may well be tainted by the fact that I have always loved the Chronicles of Narnia, and was positively thrilled when I heard there was to be a series of movies based on them. So, with my bias in mind, read on.

Overall, I was pleased with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which I will henceforth call "Narnia" for ease of typing. It did at times stray from the book, but in many cases, the tangents taken were beneficial to the story, revealing things about the characters which could not have been revealed otherwise, except through the use of a narrator (which, for the record, I would not have minded in the least).

I did notice some issues with Narnia, however, that struck me as being particularly grievous transgressions against the original work. Though many of the additions or omissions that the movie made helped it move along at a decent rate, some of those changes were not only unnecessary but detrimental to the story. One such change was the addition of the opening scenes, which take place in the Pevensies' home with their mother.The Pevensies', of course, are the children around whom the story is centered. Peter Pevensie is the oldest of the bunch, followed by Susan, then Edmund, and finally Lucy.

In the opening scenes, we begin to see the dynamics of the family's relationship. In particular, these scenes set the tone for the relationship between Peter and Edmund, and regrettably, this addition to the movie starts them out on the wrong foot. If you have not seen the movie and want to watch it without knowing how it begins, then I suggest you skip the following three paragraphs.

The setting is WWII England, and the movie opens as bombs are being dropped and the children are at home with their mother. In the midst of the explosions, the Pevensies do as any sensible family at the time would do, and rush to the bomb shelter. All, that is, except Edmund.

Edmund dashes back in the house, obviously intent upon saving something or someone inside: "I've got to get dad!" He says, or something to that effect. As he runs back inside, Peter volunteers to retrieve him, and gives chase. Peter eventually catches him, but not before Edmund reaches his destination. Edmund grabs a picture of his father, and is soon taken back to the shelter by Peter.

Upon reaching the shelter amidst the explosions, Edmund cowers on the ground as Peter scolds him: "You're so selfish!... Why can't you just do as you're told?" And this is the beginning of an inaccurate portrayal of Peter and Edmund's relationship. It may seem harmless, but it (along with subsequent incidents involving Peter and/or Edmund) ends up changing the entire theme of the movie in at least a small way.

I believe the problems that exist with Edmund's character are most aptly described by Stephen Lewis in his (decidedly unfavorable) review of Narnia:

It’s very important that the full ‘Asmodeus-ish fishy fume’ stench of Edmund’s evil is portrayed in its entirety, because Aslan is ultimately What Edmund (and by extension, us) Is Not: completely pure and holy, even frighteningly so. Aslan’s goodness is accentuated all the more by the emphasis on Edmund’s badness. This is really essential to the story’s meaning.

But Edmund Was Wrong. In the movie, Edmund is portrayed as largely misunderstood, upset and confused by the war-time situation he finds himself in; missing his father and mother enormously. His brother seems to spend an inordinate amount of time yelling and nagging at him for the most picayune offenses. He seems very lonely. All this combines to lessen the magnitude of his treachery—it would be hard to blame him for his actions, tempered as they are with his ignorance of the Witch’s intentions and his immediate repentance once he figures out what she intends. Edmund’s not really a bad chap.

And so, Stephen articulates so well what I find wrong with Edmund's portrayal; as a matter of fact, his entire review is well-worth reading.

Let us now add to Edmund's inadequate portrayal another mistake: A small but evident superiority complex on the part of Peter. This is made most evident during the scene at the waterfall, an addition that I felt was otherwise beneficial to the story. In this scene, Susan objects to hastily crossing the thawing river, saying "I'm just trying to be logical about this," to which Peter replies "No, you're trying to be smart... as usual." This exchange serves no good purpose... it presents for us a kind of friction that was not present in the book, and makes Peter's snubbing of Edmund, which could otherwise be excusable as a result of Edmund's antics, seem more like a problem he has with those who object to his authority. No, this exchange was not good; it was not good in terms of storytelling, and it was not good in terms of faithfulness to the theme of C. S. Lewis's original book.

Those are my objections to the storyline of the movie. A misunderstood Edmund and a small superiority complex for Peter. That's it, really, and for a movie these days, that's simply spectacular! However, I would like to briefly take issue with some lesser offenses on the part of Narnia...

First, there is Aslan. Make him bigger. Please. And somebody give him a deeper voice! He is described as being terrible, and yet good. He is Aslan, after all.

Also, I would have personally advocated a bit more blood in this movie. Nothing gratuitous, but enough to make the point; after all, with all the talk of "traitor's blood," for Aslan to give himself in a bloodless sacrifice makes the movie seem self-consciously... fuzzy and warm, if that makes sense. I understand that this was intended to be family fare, but it could have depicted Aslan's sacrifice within tasteful boundaries without keeping it completely bloodless.

During the sacrifice scene, I would have also appreciated a better representation of Aslan's power than a simple snarl. In Lewis's book, he mentions repeatedly that Aslan was powerful enough to kill all present, but saw fit to humble himself as a sacrifice. This aspect, crucial to the scene, was regrettably not well depicted; to the movie's credit, though, such a point would be hard to depict without the aid of a narrator. Which is why I said earlier that I wouldn't have minded a narrator for this movie in the least.

Does it sound like I hated this movie yet? I hope not... Even after spending the majority of this review describing Narnia's shortcomings, I will still unabashedly say that this was an EXCELLENT movie. The casting was superb, in my opinion; every character (save perhaps Aslan) was just as I had imagined him or her, and almost everyone I have talked to feels the same way. Similarly, the scene at the pavilion were beautifully done, and conformed perfectly to what I had imagined when I read the book so long ago.

Despite my objections, the storyline of the movie actually followed that of the book very closely. Some might disagree, but anyone attempting to make a movie from Lewis's book would have to take quite a bit of liberty to begin with, considering Lewis's "almost vague" writing style. In this movie, director Andrew Adamson and Walden Media did an outstanding job of portraying a written story on film, without significantly straying from the original theme.

So yes, Edmund seemed a little misunderstood; yes, Peter came off as being a little too big for his britches; and yes, Aslan was a little, shall we say, wimpier than I had expected. Still, these are forgivable offenses considering the movie's many virtues, Lewis's writing style, and the fact that many movie-goers won't catch on to these discrepancies with the original story anyway. Simply put, Narnia is one of the best movies to come out of Hollywood in quite some time, and thankfully rivals another fantasy series that I never fell quite so in love with, The Lord of the Rings. With that in mind, I will wait with bated breath for the next installment of the Narnia series, which is slated to be Prince Caspian.

My rating for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: 8.5 out of 10