A Morning in Narnia

I've just left the Century Downtown Plaza theater in Sacramento after an advance screening of The Chronicles of Narnia, walked into my house, and directly to my computer. Let me be honest up front: I love the Chronicles of Narnia. I have read them since a young boy. They brought me into a world of fantasy and I''ve setup camp here.

I''ll also admit that I''ve been quite hesitant about this movie. So many attempts to nail this story in a visual format have failed (the annoying PBS cartoon and that equally horrid BBC edition), that I just couldn''t live with another pitiful hack attempt at these wonderful stories.

I''ve also been fearful that so many people would simply watch these movies and never move over to the book. The books are pure magic in my opinion. C.S. Lewis chose the fairy-tale genre and executed his approach perfectly.
My fears were simply unwarranted. My first reaction was WOW! This movie, coming in just short of two and a half hours, was mesmerizing. That''s not to say it was flawless, because it wasn't. There are still some points of frustration for me (albeit, these could simply be where the movie doesn't match the image I constructed in my mind).

The standout performance of this movie was clearly Tilda Swinton as Jadis, the White Witch. The person who cast her deserves a raise. She carried the acting in this movie, which, apart from her, dragged noticeably. Tilda is spell-binding. I found myself naturally wanting to hate her and yet oddly drawn to her. When Swinton is on-screen, the movie resonates deeply with the audience. She is horrifyingly cruel in one beat and in the next, convincingly alluring and seemingly kind.

Actually, apart from Swinton, the best acting in this movie, comes from Aslan, the CG lion himself, voiced by Liam Neeson. If Aslan didn't connect, then the movie would fall flat. They executed him perfectly (pun intended). Aslan and Jadis are polar extremes and literally move the movie by themselves. There are times when the CG becomes obvious, but Aslan is so moving in his character that it just becomes easy to forgive.

Speaking of the CG, this movie's effects are well-done, but just not perfect. Like most movies today, there are just those few obvious scenes that scream for a few more days of work. The creatures were well-done. Two of the later scenes find a huge collection of monsters and creatures plucked from fairytales from the last thousand years: banshees, harpees, a phoenix, gryphons, gargoyles, demons, orcs, goblins, centaurs, minotaurs, cyclops, fawns, the list literally seems endless. Just when you think they've trotted out all the wonderful creatures they could think of, a few more arrive. As far as creativity of creature development, the anticipation that the Jackson's Lord of the Rings create finds its fulfillment here. Absolutely flawless. There is one scene (the Stone Table) that brought back that same sense of awe that I had when watching the first Cantina scene in Star Wars: A New Hope.

The handiwork of Weta's craftsmen is obvious. Weta's team is clearly the masters in this field. The intricacies of the armor, swords, furniture, and more are beautiful. They pulled me into this movie and convinced me that this was truly Narnia.

The cinematography is excellent. The first walk into to Narnia was gorgeous, convincing, and splendid. Looking down upon Mr. Tumnus and Lucy walk across the snow and under the umbrella was haunting. Glancing at the lamppost through the snow-covered trees was spot-on as I'd imagined it.

I loved the fact that the talking animals become simply believable. It isn't a huge effort to suspend my disbelief. The beavers are well-performed and I found myself loving them. The animals are honestly more convincingly than any of the real actors, excluding Swinton.

This movie absolutely captured the magic, flow, and detail of the book. I loved watching this with my son, hoping that his first encounter with Narnia would be memorable. I was working on reading him the book, ""The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," so that we would finish it by Friday, December 9th when the movie premieres. However, this opportunity came up and my plans were sidetracked. My son is even more eager to finish the book now. That fact alone tells me this movie was a success.