I had the opportunity to attend a Press Screening of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" in Detroit last week and rest assured, I was amazed.

When I sat down, the reviewer behind me was on his cellphone. "I'm about to watch Narnia", he sneered, "and hopefully, Disney sanitized the religion out of it."

Good news - everything was as it should be! This is a movie that has the potential to attract fans of Harry Potter, The Passion Of The Christ, Lord Of The Rings, The Ten Commandments, Spy Kids, Braveheart and Star Wars, a feat that is not likely to be repeated soon. This movie made me want to read the Chronicles again, and I won't be the only one.

I'll try not to give too much away.

Story: Note for note, they kept this one true to the book. The nice thing is that they added comical moments that were not in the BBC version or the 1977 cartoon.

Themes: The themes of hope, sin and consequence, dependence on family, forgiveness and redemption were loud and clear. I realized how many of the movies mentioned above borrowed themes from C.S. Lewis, who in fact, borrowed them from the Bible: reluctant heroes, sacrifice and good and evil.

Characters: The four kids were excellent, as was Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan. Jadis, the White Witch was demeaning and condescending, as expected - I was a fan of Tilda Swinton going into this film.

Effects: Talking animals actually looked like they were pronouncing the words, not like "Mr. Ed" or "Cats and Dogs". Aslan was majestic, fierce and gentle.

Music: Music at the Stone Table scene sounded very much like the Gethsemane scene in The Passion – partially because the same vocalist, Lisbeth Scott, sang for both movies. Soundtrack was fantastic, and Alanis Morrisette's "Wunderkind" ended the film beautifully.