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

Review By: Mike Masri
MikeMasri@TheCinemaSource.com

Okay, here we have a movie that involves myth and magic, so will me being a fan of mythology and The Lord of the Rings help or hurt Narina when I review it? I guess it's kind of a double edged sword. I like the mythology and characters in the movie, but this was all done better in The Lord of the Rings.

What we have here is a children's movie, that's what it is. If it would have come out about five years earlier it would have been a revolutionary phenomenal film, but in the present time we've seen it before. Because Narina is a children's movie it has aspects of The Lord of the Rings films, but without being overly bloody, brutal, or horrifying.

With that said, let's get to the movie itself. It's about four kids who have left their family because of war and are now living in a house that is strange to them. While in this house they stumble upon a magical wardrobe that is the gateway between our world and the magical land of Narnia.

Narina is just that, magical. It's a land where the animals and creatures have the ability to talk and they rule the land. Well, they used to rule the land until they were overthrown by an evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton). Of course the four kids happen to be part of a prophecy to free the good creatures of Narina from the tyrant's rule. So along with the help of Aslan, a wise mystical talking lion, the children go on an adventure to save the land of Narina.

Alright now that I bashed the movie a bit and gave you the premise of it, time to sing its praises. This is a great movie for kids. I think it'll win over crowds between the ages of 10-16 the most. There are plenty of visually pleasing sceneries as well as characters. This movie employs fawns, dwarfs, giants, griffin, centaurs, and a slew of other creatures, which all appear perfectly on screen.

The creatures in the movie were nothing short of amazing. The difference between the creatures in a movie like this and one such as The Lord of the Rings isn't a good or bad comparison, but simply differences. This movie gives all the creatures a nice clean look, even the evil creatures have sinister looks, but aren't really scary, since it is a movie designed for children. If you allow a young child to watch The Lord of the Rings chances are they will have a nightmare involving a disfigured orc.

The story does carry itself and can be found interesting to both children and adults. I think this is a must see for children, but if you are a bit more mature you should approach with caution. This is a movie, which has taken on a lot of fame, which means most people ...