I was raised on the Chronicles of Narnia. And before you ask, yes; I did look into the strange wardrobe in my mother's office when I was younger.

Andrew Adamson has brought The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to cinema and has kept the spirit of the book in tact. The themes and messages that stick with you in the book are definitely prevelant in the film (though some minor plot details were changed such as the chase scenes involving the wolves). But on a side note, while the script strayed in some areas, little things fans of the book remember are still there (like the "dead blue bottle" on the window sill in the wardrobe room.

The acting is very good. The four children are exceptionally cast, and very little acting is not top-notch. Those that stand out are Georgie Henley (Lucy), Tilda Swinton (The Witch), and Dawn French (Mrs. Beaver). Some actors were not given roles as difficult but were just as effective and convincing i.e. William Moseley (Peter). Others were not my favorites. Jim Broadbent as the professor did a good job, but I thought the film made it too evident that he might have been to Narnia before. In the book, the sense is more that he just knows things most grown-ups don't.

The script was very true to the spirit of the book, though it is unmistakable that the children are more in the spotlight (compared to the book which focuses more on Aslan).

The cinematography blew me away. In film, you see everything threw one thing: the camera. Its placement is crucial, and if handled poorly, can ruin the film. Fortunately, this is not the case here. The battle scene was particularly thrilling with the sweeping shots of the armies and the camera positions that can show us things never shown before (due to the fact so much is done digitally).

If I were to list a complaint of this film, it is that some elements of the script's dialogue was not quite in keeping with the rest of the film (due to the heavy drawing from the book). Examples include "I'm one of the good guys" and "He's the head geezer." This got on my nerves a little but didn't distract from the overrall experience.

Overall, I am happy with this film. It is not quite as good a film by itself as The Lord of the Rings (though it is closer to the book), but it is in the top five best book-to-film adaptions ever to cross the cinema and is one of my favorite films of all time.