I'm actually quite surprised that no one's started a thread to talk about this yet.
So...general thoughts, comments?
I'm somewhat saddened by how some people are discouraging other people to see this movie due to the religious allegory. It seems there is a stigma to seeing The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe because the religious right enjoys it and gave it their stamp of approval. That annoys me.
I thought the movie was great and the religious references were not overt in my opinion. Especially not moreso than things like The Matrix.
I have seen it as well. Loved it on many levels. Great CGI, the Lion (Aslan) looks fantastic. And I am a fan of the stories, having read them to my kids. I can only hope that the rest of the series is forthcoming.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Saw it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not as good at Potter IV or any of the Rings films, but a really enjoyable fantasy movie nonetheless. Would be more psyched for a Prince Caspian movie tho. AWA, have you seen the BBC's late 80s/early 90s dramatisation of the books? If your kids love the stories I'd highly recommend hunting down a copy, they're some of my favourite TV memories of my childhood.
St. Nick left us tickets, so I took a 1/2 day on the 9th and my family and I caught it on opening day. We all loved it, and I agree the allegories were there if you were looking for them (which for me was fine...had a nice discussion about it with our kids), but they weren't so "hit you over the head" obvious with them that anyone should be put off by this.
I thought that the casting was wonderful, and the imagery was perfect. I've been reading the kids the books, and my daughter commented that Narnia looked just like she thought it would.
I've rarely been to a movie lately where everyone (my kids included) applauded at the end. Well done, and I'd recommend seeing it.
Frankly, the allegories weren't that hard to spot in the books when I was younger reading them. I always just took it as a broad story with touches of the Biblical story scattered through. My wife and I are taking my neice and nephew sometime next week and I'll probably be the most excited about it of the four of us. Can't wait since the previews are gorgeous.
I enjoyed the movie a lot, and the young actress who played Lucy was PERFECT. Edmund was great, but Peter looked too much like Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc.
The story was great, and as I had my mother read all those books to me when I was young, I was feeling very nostalgic as I watched this story. I hope for as many sequels as they can churn out.
I thuroughly enjoyed this movie and felt it did way better approaching its source material than Jackson did for LOTR (which I hated... yes all 3 movies). I think it rivals the old BBC mini in presentation fun factor.
As for Christian allegory... so what? It don't bother me since I'm Jewish *wink*
Originally posted by AWArulzI have seen it as well. Loved it on many levels. Great CGI, the Lion (Aslan) looks fantastic. And I am a fan of the stories, having read them to my kids. I can only hope that the rest of the series is forthcoming.
Oh, you KNOW they green lighted this movie with a huge budget thinking "Lord of the Rings was a HUGE hit, but there's only three parts... what we need is a another story that has like, SEVEN parts! Find one and run with it!"
This was a fun kids' movie, and if I had brats of my own, I'd take them to see this. The violence was pretty well done for a movie geared towards kids, which is a plus in my book.
It even had a comedic dwarf killing. What's not to like?
Back in the day, we were forced to read the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe for one of my classes in literature, so I was familiar with the story going in. It was pretty faithful (pun intended!) to the story, although almost to a fault. I think the director could have had a little more fun with it.
They needed to have a little more Aslan, or add a key scene before they got to the stone table, because things moved too quickly once he appeared. Also, I think there could have been a little more buildup before the battle at the end. I'm not saying they had to go all "Battle of Helms Deep" or anything, but aside from one line about this being "to the death", the gravity of the battle didn't really set in.
The battle itself, though, was fun (especially considering it was during broad daylight, which isn't usually as dramatic) and Tilda Swinton was actually a pretty good ass-kicking witch.
I hate most child actors, but I found them in this movie to be pretty tolerable. Lucy seems to be the standout. I've seen quite a few talking foxes and wolves in my day, and the CGI creatures didn't look too bad all things considered.
I don't know what the big deal with the allegory is. It's pretty much the whole point of the story, I thought.
Overall, I haven't read the other books, but this was a fairly simple story and worked well as a movie. I think that, had Andrew Adamson taken a little more risks, he could have given it that extra edge, but as is, this was still a good adaptation and is worth seeing. I'd see a sequel.
It was cool that they used an Imogen Heap song at the end, but not-so-cool is that iTunes makes you buy the whole Narnia soundtrack to download it.
My wife and I took my nephew (5 yrs) and niece (7yrs) to see it on Thursday. My wife was highly skeptical going in that they would "do it right". She was impressed that it stuck to the book as well as it did. The kids held their interest the whole film. My niece seems to prefer animation to live actors and life-like CGI while my nephew tends to fall asleep during long movies, and he didn't. For me, I was giddy watching the film and had a smile on my face for most of it. I'm jazzed to see where they go with it from here.
The 4 kids knocked this one out of the park. I didn't notice Lucy not looking at the CGI, but to a good degree, she was the one that had to carry most of the story and did very well. Peter and Edmund were right there in their characterizations and while I thought Susan was the weakest of the four, she was by no means bad at all.
Aslan did need a little more time but he looked very good and the voice was solid. He sounded like a commanding presence when he needed to be, but compassionate during the others.
The big question mark for me going in was the Witch. For some reason, I hadn't quite pictured her from reading the books the way she looked in the movie, but she won me over. I'll be curious to see how I react to her when the DVD comes out and I can rewatch without that bit of bias.
All said and done, it delivered big time. I don't know how far they'll try to run with it since two of the kids wouldn't be in the 1st sequel and the other two are gone after that one. The turnover may hurt the drawing power if the audience gets more attached to the kids than to Narnia itself.
Narnia suffered a bit from Jackson's "10,000 Postcards" style of filmmaking. There were too many cuts based on the desire to deliver one great shot after another, but while Jackson's films fell victim to his masturbatory direction, Narnia overcame the frequent posing for the camera to deliver a compelling story.
Director Andrew Adamson was perhaps fortunate in that he was dealing with more straightforward material than Tolkien's rich tales, but regardless of the depth of the story, Adamson showed a clarity of focus that was sadly lacking in Jackson's trilogy.
Adamson's film moves quickly despite not skipping any important scenes from the book. I was fearful that Adamson was reserving time for a Jacksonian battle from hell, but Narnia's battle was fought in a clear fashion with the focus on important characters rather than exotic weaponry.
Even the complex finish of the book was handled with aplomb, with Adamson using images to effectively summarize the last chapter in a couple of minutes so that the passage of time didn't diminish the effectiveness of the finish of the main storyline of the film.
I went in expecting to be disappointed by endless helicopter shots, pointlessly long battle scenes, and unconvincing CGI, the hallmarks of Jackson films.
Instead I saw a film that occaisionally mugged for the camera, but still did a great job of delivering the original story in a way only film could do.
Saw it with my girlfriend, and we both enjoyed it. CGI was well done, the kids did agreat job. Very enjoyable movie, brining much of Lewis' ideas/ideals to the screen (albiet some things were missing....the whole stone table thing seemed muted in a way).
And no mention of the music so far? For shame. Harry Gregson-Williams, the man who did the music for the Shrek movies, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 and many many more (Click Here (imdb.com) to find more of his work).
I'm buying the soundtrack tommorrow probably. Simply outstanding.
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ChrisJo, who brought us such pieces as wisdom as: "What does that have 2 do with anything? U want proper spelling, read a book. All I want is for someone to actually express some sort of opinion about this subject. I thought this was a WRESTLING forum."
Music was the typically overblown faux opera of Jackson and modern Lucas. The original Star Wars movies demonstrate the power of an orchestra without the over-the-top desperation of a chorus drowning them out.
Moviemaking has fallen into a lot of bad cliches. Narnia overcame several of them. The music was a melodramatic cliche.
Originally posted by Boston IdolMusic was the typically overblown faux opera of Jackson and modern Lucas. The original Star Wars movies demonstrate the power of an orchestra without the over-the-top desperation of a chorus drowning them out.
Moviemaking has fallen into a lot of bad cliches. Narnia overcame several of them. The music was a melodramatic cliche.
Jackson doesn't compose. Niether does Lucas. You must be refering to the composers.
- George Lucus enjoys the style and work of one John Williams, to the point where in almost all of Lucas' movies Williams is around. William's name has been associated with many great scores in movies. Star Wars is but one of his many accomplishments. One may argue that he has set the standard for modern film composers on an orchistra level. I'd like to know where you define "Modern-Williams", please. Not Modern-Lucus. I want Modern-WILLIAMS. When the music was bad, not nesscessarily the movie (cause you can have great music/bad movie).
- Howard Shore has been around for a good chunk of time. Bet you didn't know he composed for Saturday Night Live in 1975, eh? Anyways, he's best known these days for his remarkable work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Funny thing is, that (so far as I know) is the ONLY time he worked with Peter Jackson. Love his use and blending of strings. IMHO, the best modern composer using strings (along with Thomas Newman).
- Harry Gregson-Williams is a young lad with already an impressive resume. Opposite to what you said, Boston Idol, I think his use of choral voices add to his work in Narnia. Used as an instrument, the voices added flavour to the movie and fit when it happened and made moments more compelling. Especially in the final battle. And I must say, I find his use of brass instruments compelling and well done.
You attach any of these three guys, and you have a great soundtrack in all likelyhood. Thomas Newman (who did the SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) is another who is fantastic.
As I said before, simply outstanding.
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I really enjoyed the movie, but I too found the music to be the low point of the experience. Everytime one of the songs started to dominate, it took me right out of the story. Especially the Enya-esque pieces that started up whenever we were supposed to feel "Childlike wonder".
I still thought it was a great movie, but the soundtrack was chock full of hamfisted cliches.
I'd watch Narnia again just to study Tilda Swinton's performance in more detail.
Frank
"Another holdover whose work isn’t at its best is composer John Williams, who recycles the themes from previous episodes efficiently enough until he resorts to choral interjections toward the close--a sure sign of creative desperation." - Dr. Frank Swietek, "Revenge of the Sith"
NEWLY ADDED FOR WEEK OF 2/16: Cabin Fever: Unrated Director's Cut (The W at Amazon) Blu-ray (2002) The Cement Garden (PAL/Region 2) (France/Germany/UK, 1993) (import) Shoah (4 Disc Set & 184 Page Book Special Edition Box Set) (UK PAL/Region 2)