The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Long bloody title, but a great film no doubt. I had seen <em>'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'</em> before but hadn't watched it for years and years, I remembered the vast majority though - it's a memorable film after all. There's a great battle scene in there, some fun characters and strong effects. It's a tad too long, but not by much. It has a nice charm to it also, as they set up Narnia excellently. The quartet of children are very well cast, all four of them suit their roles to a T. Georgie Henley is sweet as Lucy, while William Moseley and Anna Popplewell fulfil the roles of Peter and Susan comfortably. Edmund, meanwhile, is of course annoying, but Skandar Keynes does a good job portraying him. Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton and Liam Neeson are terrific casts as the White Witch and Aslan. Both do great, especially Swinton. James McAvoy, Ray Winstone, Michael Madsen and Rupert Everett are smart choices too. I've, as far as I'm aware, never seen the two sequels so very much look forward to seeing what they have in store for me. They'll do well to match this first film, that's for sure.

In my last review (which you can find on my Letterboxd), I said The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a "nearly perfect film." Well, I am here to say that with this viewing, to me, it is a perfect film. I used to always think this film was a sort of step below LOTR, and, while LOTR is indeed a masterpiece of cinema, I don't regard this film as lesser. The movie is just pure magic! Every aspect of the movie (minus the CGI – which doesn't really hold up [except for Aslan] but is still serviceable) is even better with age! And I find myself moved emotionally by more things this time than I ever have watching this film. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is just phenomenal. Especially "The Battle" – that goes without saying. But this time, part of the magic and nostalgia I was struck by was the musical piece that sounds like it's a song. The one that plays while the train is leaving London. (I found out it's actually about halfway into the track "Evacuating London.") That magical song, combined with the great camera work by Donald M. McAlpine and the appearance of the movie title makes for feelings of peak nostalgia and magic for me. Also, this film has one of the b

CS Lewis certainly had one heck of an imagination and it is rarely better exemplified than in this lovely fantasy adventure. Four wartime siblings are evacuated from London to stay with the reclusive "Professor Kirke" (Jim Broadbent) in the relative safety of the English countryside. Once they get there, the housekeeper "Mrs. Macready" (Elizabeth Hawthorne) makes it quite clear that they are to be seen and not heard! Boredom sets in and thus a game of hide and seek seems sensible. "Lucy" takes refuge in an old wardrobe - a wardrobe that has a secret! Much to her astonishment, she finds herself in a snowy land with a single streetlamp and there meets "Mr. Tumnus" (James McAvoy) - a scarf-clad faun. She returns to her brothers and sister and after some convincing, they join her in the wardrobe and all discover the delights and dangers of "Narnia" meeting loads of new friends and a couple of not so nice wolves, too! This is the first of the adventures of the "Pevensie" children in this mysterious land where animals can talk and winter is perpetual under the control of the villainous "White Witch" (Tilda Swinton). They align with "Aslan" the all powerful lion (voiced by Liam Neeson) an