Chronicles of Narnia Movie - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

[Rían]

I just got back from seeing CoN:LWW - wow, I need to process it a bit, but basically excellent! I've read the books for so long and know them so well that I kind of need to get one movie screening out of the way before I can really relax and enjoy the movie. It was like that with the LoTR movies, too.

Anyway, here's some first impressions:

Casting of the 4 kids was great! Lucy is adorable, Peter is brave/good without being annoying (I just wanted to pinch his cute little cheeks and introduce him to my daughter!), Susan was realistically ambivilant, and Edmund was convincing as traitor turned brave because of Aslan's sacrifice for him.

CG pretty good, but still a bit stiff at times. They're good at wind/hair effects, but it's still hard to get weight down good. The fauns (the first CG thing you see) were a bit awkward IMO, but overall very good, considering the number of CG creatures they had to do.

Death scene very moving.

Fight w/ Peter and the witch great!

V. well-imagined and interesting concept of the dryads.

The river section in the middle was an addition, and I found it very awkward and contrived - basically a set-up to show Peter "afraid" to use his sword so that it will be "better" when he uses it later Kind of an Aragorn-afraid-of-his-heritage fake thing. Stupid Hollywood!

Witch was creepy - I loved the little snowflaky-things at the tips of her eyelashes - kind of gave you a dirty-eyes type of feeling, like it was eye-crud stuck on her lashes. Dresses and hair were very good, kind of creepily organic and twisted, until you got a long shot and saw how it stuck out at the back behind her neck.

Warning - they show some credits at the end, then another minute of movie! So stay seated.

Interesting beginning - showing the blitz in London, and a bit of tension between Edmund and Peter.

They even showed the bluebottle fly in the window in the wardrobe room, altho it wasn't dead. Lots of attention to details in the book like that.

I"ll prob. see it again Sunday with the rest of the family (I went with my girlfriend whose hubby works in the theater industry - free passes!) and will be able to report more. But overall very good - I think ... (need to process!)


(mods - I started a new thread because the other threads were kind of pre-movie things - merge it in one of those if you want to )

[rohirrim TR]

I'm goin to see it in about 2 hours i'll check in tomorrow.

[sun-star]

I saw it yesterday... it was so, so, so good! Loved it from the first scene, because I liked the idea of showing more about the children's background than you get in the book. I've always thought their relationships with each other make more sense when you remember they're evacuees. All the children were great, managing to be childish but grown up at the same time - difficult to explain, but they all got it exactly right. The White Witch and Mr Tumnus were excellent. I expected Liam Neeson as Aslan to be annoying, but he wasn't, and the battle scene was also well-done. The landscape of Narnia was less wild and epic than LOTR, which is what I was hoping for. Only two things I didn't like - the beavers (too much like comic relief and a bit too modern) and the dryads (nice idea, but not like the books or the legends Lewis took them from). I agree with you about the river scene, RÃ*an - it was odd and rather unnecessary.

But otherwise I loved everything. Narnia beats Harry Potter into a cocked hat, as usual!

[Rían]

yeah, Disney absolutely cannot refrain from having "funny" sidekicks, and the beavers took that role this time ...

[rohirrim TR]

it was awesome, amazing, stupendacular, Liam Neesom was surprisingly a great aslan, i thought the beavers were okay,not great but okay, and the actors were surpassing all expectations, last but not least the centaurs totally owned! i thing they're my favorite creature now.the fauns were awesome totally real. the wolves were cool, the witch was not all that scary but as soon as she killed aslan she was villified enough that a scary costume wasn't necessary, but dang was her and peter's fight cool

my only beefs:
the professor was over the top and looked too much like Jim Carrey i think it would have been cooler if they had had Doug Gresham play the professor, but alas. the witche's dwarf being the comic relief was kind of annoying to me. the waterfall scene wasn't so much bad, but uncharacteristic of the wolves, i mean, the kids/beavers were outnumbered fairly helpless the wolves wouldn't have stood there talking they woud have slaughtered them and rolled. the floating on ice thing was a bit unreal too. I wish they hadn't cut the beaver's house scene short. and I wish they had shone Aslan freeing the stoned guys in the witches castle, i.e. Rumblebuffin et.al. theres more but thats all i can think of now, i'm gonna have to see it again. its that good.

[rohirrim TR]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

yeah, Disney absolutely cannot refrain from having "funny" sidekicks, and the beavers took that role this time ...

actually what was worse was the witches little sidekick being funny, i mean come on he's supposed to be a villain here.

[azalea]

Hi, guys! I was going to wait and go Sunday, but I couldn't! I had just finished reading the book to my kids (I mean, like, today!) and just had to go. I thought it was excellent! Very well done!

Yes, the prof isn't quite as I imagine him, and his line at the end (the REAL end) about "I tried myself" to get back into Narnia through the wardrobe -- I understood why they put that, but I felt it to be a small thing that didn't jibe with the "real" story.

I REALLY enjoyed seeing all of the beasts and mythical beings! I thought they did a great job of hags, etc. (all the many "bad" creatures listed in the book -- my son kept asking "what's a...?" and I was having a hard time giving him a concise answer); they basically created looks for those things, and I liked it.

I liked Aslan, and his voice, but the only thing I would have changed is to have him BIGGER. I always imagine ALL of the kids looking UP to him, but Peter was taller than Aslan in the movie. That was the only real issue I had with it.

The casting was great for all of the kids and Mr. Tumnus. Great scene where he and Lucy meet. Great battle scenes. Yes, that added thing with the river was unnecessary, and I too thought that the wolf would have just killed Mr. Beaver, but it was okay. I liked Jadis, and her battle chariot was pretty cool. I like how they did the turning to stone. I kind of teared up when Father Christmas came. I liked how they did that scene, too, nicely building up the tension when they think it's the White Witch. I like how the wardrobe looked.

[AND I liked the preview for Pirates of the Caribbean 2! ]

Now I'm looking forward to Prince Caspian!

[Rían]

Yeah, Pirates 2 looked pretty good!

I agree about the professor - comb your hair, bud!

And what's with everyone having Angelina Jolie lips nowdays?

Looks like everyone liked Peter and the witch's fight - one of the best scenes, IMO.

Yeah, I guess you're right, sunstar, about the dryads, I just kind of liked how they were made up of part of the trees. But thinking back on the book, it prob. could have been done better.

Aslan was better than I expected, but not great (CG on that scale must be incredibly complex!) - I liked his eyes, though. Cool color. For some reason, the little sigh he gave right before he died was really moving.

Centaurs were pretty cool - I agree! Altho it's incredibly hard to animate a horse, and their movement was just not horsy enough for me, a person who grew up around horses.

Little touch - I like how when Edmund got the Turkish Delight, the dwarf took the hot choc. cup and then just threw it into the bushes.

Interesting switches between real dogs/wolves and animated/cg ones in the beaver's house scene.

What was that fox scene thing?

Wasn't grown-up King Peter cute?!

One thing my sis-in-law noticed - she remembers Lucy having "golden hair". Do you guys remember descriptions of the Pevensies?

[azalea]

I thought both the grown-up boys were cute!

Yes, that's another thing, I picture Lucy as being blonde, and at the end of the book it describes her grown-up self as having golden hair. But I liked the way she looked in the movie and I thought the little girl did a great job. They could have lightened her hair, though.

Another thing was that I pictured them all as just slightly younger, and after checking my source, Lucy was 8 or 9, Edmund was 10, Susan was 12 and Peter was 13. The professor was 52. It really wasn't a problem, but mostly in the case of Susan -- I'm sure that actress is older than 12, but again, she did a good job.

Yeah, the fox bit came out of nowhere, but I thought it worked pretty well.

[sun-star]

Originally Posted by rohirrim TR

i think it would have been cooler if they had had Doug Gresham play the professor

You're right, that would have been cool! I couldn't help remembering that Jim Broadbent was... well... Jim Broadbent, and thinking about other stuff he's been in that I don't like that much. That's the problem with using famous actors, I suppose - it was the same with Dawn French as Mrs Beaver.

Douglas Gresham did get a small part - he was the announcer on the radio which the children listen to near the beginning.

The other tiny thing which got to me was Mrs Macready - what was that accent meant to be?

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Yeah, I guess you're right, sunstar, about the dryads, I just kind of liked how they were made up of part of the trees. But thinking back on the book, it prob. could have been done better.

I think I noticed it because the trees are so lovely in "Prince Caspian", when Lucy witnesses their awakening and then later their feast (with the different kinds of earth, including one which looked like chocolate ) It's always been one of my favourite parts, but it would probably be difficult to do on film.

Wasn't grown-up King Peter cute?!

I thought young Peter was pretty cute All the grown-up children () looked a bit too Hollywoodish to me. You're right, Lucy does have fair hair in the books, but the young actress was so perfect that I wouldn't change anything about her!

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

And what's with everyone having Angelina Jolie lips nowdays?

botox

i saw it today... was pretty good.... not quite the depth and power of a lotr, but very enjoyable... similar to the potter movies for me... definitely great for the kids too

[Elanor]

I saw this movie on Friday morning and really liked it. I'm afraid I was comparing it more to the BBC TV movies than to the book, and I think on average it was about equal. The Disney version was more realistic in special effects, physical details, and in some of the acting, but the music was nowhere near as moving (most of it was just your run-of the-mill movie background music, but a few pieces sounded original).

I preferred Aslan's voice in the older movie. Liam Neeson did a good job, but I thought it should have sounded more "lion-y". The Professor was also better in the older version. Jim Broadbent is just too... Jim Broadbent. At first I was disappointed that the Witch wasn't as obviously evil as Barbara Kellerman, but she was okay in the most important parts. I was actually happy to see Kiran Shah as Ginarrbrik, since I saw him be so cute as Frodo's double in the LotR movie appendices.

I was glad they cut out a lot of the in-between stuff at the Professor's house and on the way to the Stone Table, but I agree that the frozen river scene was awkward. The one effect I preferred in the BBC version was Aslan breathing the stone people back to life. It was kind of cheap, but I just liked the look of it better, how a sort of rainbow flowed quickly across the person's body. The dryads, wolves, and other creatures were miles better in the new movie.

Harry Potter is "fun" great, and LotR is "dramatic" great, but for me at least, Narnia is just more deep and meaningful. I got pretty teary during Aslan's death and resurrection. No matter how it is done (and this was done very well!), this story will always have a special place in my heart.

I am very excited to see how they will do Prince Caspian and the other Chronicles! I can't wait to compare the new Reepicheep to Warwick Davis and Miraz to Robert Lang...

[rohirrim TR]

yeah, as great as Liam Neeson was, when i read aslan, i hear James Earl Jones.

the peter witch fight was so good because of the angles, crazy camera angles, can't wait to try them out myself, did you all like peter's matrix move?
the only weird thing about that fight was the witch pinning him on the ground,i just thought that realistically she would have just killed him at that point.

the fox did undergo and interesting character change, he was a pretty cool character though.

gotta say it one more time, the Centaurs rock!!

[Lotesse]

I saw it last night. It was kind of too child-made for my taste, and the effects weren't that good at all; I expected so much more. They could have done WAY better, for instance, with Aslan's fur. His fur looked like a bunch of cobras constantly wiggling around, it did not flow like real fur. That Peter was really sweet, though! If i were a kid again, I'd so have a crush on that Peter, what a cutie. And little Lucy was really spot-on, wasn't she? Loved her! The witch was pretty convincing; I really wanted to bitch-slap that awful woman.
It was a nice movie for family entertainment, to be sure. If I had young children, I'd let them see it. Very tame & sweet.

[durinsbane2244]

maybe it was me, but in the previews i thought aslan sounded like ian mckellon...i wanna go see it! waaah!

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

It was a nice movie for family entertainment, to be sure. If I had young children, I'd let them see it. Very tame & sweet.

my kids liked it, though my seven-year-old was somewhat confused as to why edmund would betray his family over something as minor as candy... he thinks too much for his age

[Rían]

did you explain that it wasn't the candy alone, but it was more because he was mad at Peter and wanted to "put him in his place", which the Witch plays on very well when she says Edmund would be king even tho Peter was older? Also, the candy was bewitched, which is clear in the books but not in the movie.

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

did you explain that it wasn't the candy alone, but it was more because he was mad at Peter and wanted to "put him in his place", which the Witch plays on very well when she says Edmund would be king even tho Peter was older? Also, the candy was bewitched, which is clear in the books but not in the movie.

i did mention to him the bigger picture of sibling rivalry, but you are correct... i completely forgot about the bewitched candy

[sun-star]

Originally Posted by Elanor

Harry Potter is "fun" great, and LotR is "dramatic" great, but for me at least, Narnia is just more deep and meaningful. I got pretty teary during Aslan's death and resurrection. No matter how it is done (and this was done very well!), this story will always have a special place in my heart.

That's really well-put... I feel the same way.

Originally Posted by brownjenkins

my kids liked it, though my seven-year-old was somewhat confused as to why edmund would betray his family over something as minor as candy... he thinks too much for his age

Tell him that poor Edmund probably hadn't seen any sweets for years, because they were rationed in wartime. Plus, Turkish Delight is really addictive...

Oh yeah, and the magic

[brownjenkins]

Originally Posted by sun-star

Tell him that poor Edmund probably hadn't seen any sweets for years, because they were rationed in wartime. Plus, Turkish Delight is really addictive...

my oldest hardly eats candy at all, and my youngest likes it, but only if it's in front of him

my middle one however, loves candy... he typically asks "what's for dessert?" before dinner is even on the table... so it may have been an introspective comment on his part too