From everything I'd seen in the trailers I had very high expectations from this film. However, I didn't think it would ever equal Lord of the Rings, and it didn't. The graphics are amazing, most of the characters were cast well, and the story was pretty good, but something was missing.

The graphics were stunning! Aslan was so well done. You could almost feel the emotion by looking at his eyes. The creatures, like centaurs and fauns, were great. The computer graphics blended so well with the live action. The ammount of detail put into everything was amazing. As with most movies though, there are some shots that are very plainly done entirely by computer and look unrealistic, but as a whole the movie was done very well in this department.

The cast was very good. All the characters stayed true to their character and the actors chosen to portray them fit their roles nicely. I think Tumnus, Edmund, and Lucy stood out the most. The only character that didn't quite fit was Jadis. She seemed a bit watered down; not as evil or menacing as I had immagined she would be. Aslan was quite good too, but there again, not quite how I had pictured him. For the most part though all the characters were great.

The writers did a fairly decent job on adapting the novel to screen. They kept the main points of the book and the Christian theme in throughout the entire film. Something Hollywood rarely does anymore. They didn't dwell on any gore in the battles. Anything that was about to be killed was off camera. There are a few nitpicks I have about it, such as deviating a little in some scenes from the book, but none of that really affects the story any, and is normal for any book to film movie. The score was ok. In some places it fit nicely and was very good, but in other scenes it seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. The few themes I did catch, were ok, but there were a couple that just didn't seem to fit in Narnia. They seemed a bit too jazzed up.

The main thing that bothered me about the film was this nagging feeling that it lacked something. Narnia was great, visually and script-wise, but it didn't quite feel like Narnia. I've always loved the Narnia stories and I grew up with them. There seems to be a quality about the land of Narnia in the books that the movie doesn't quite convey. I can't quite put my finger on it as to what it is that it's lacking, but it's there. Maybe once I watch the film for a second time I'll be able to pick it out.

Overall it was a very enjoyable film, and I believe the best adaptation of the book yet. This is a good one to see in theaters.