Review

I'm going be using this page for reviews. So, here's the first movie review.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - Growing up in a family where churchgoing was regular and my mother, an English major, encouraged me to read, it seemed inevitable that I was introduced to The Chronicles of Narnia at a young age. I first read Lucy's entrance through the wardrobe and into the world of Narnia while in elementary school. The rest of the 7 book series sat on my shelf until early middle school, when I re-read about the first adventures of the Pevensie children in Narnia, and then quickly continued on to read the rest of the series.
In high school, I turned to Lewis' other works for a more practical application of doctrine into life. Surprised By Joy, a recounting of C.S. Lewis' life and progress towards faith, was the first one I remember reading. In it, I got to see the background behind the creation of Narnia. It also led me to check out Mere Christianity, which was being read by a few people in my youth group. That book helped me out in thematic ways, but the actual philosophical journey he takes the reader through was not lived out in my life until about ages 18-20. The book I remember having the most impact on my life at the time was The Screwtape Letters, a correspondence of one demon uncle Screwtape mentoring his nephew Wormwood in the fine art of turning people away from God.
Along the way, I curiously picked up various books from the Narnia series to re-enter the wardrobe. My mom used to call me "Puddleglum," so The Silver Chair had a comical place in the series. I always enjoyed the uniqueness of each book, but I think The Voyage of the Dawn Treader excited my fancies because it is a seafaring adventure and it was about the exploration of an infinite world. There was conflict in the journey, but the real treasure was at the end of world. Quite escapist. Prince Caspian appealed to the idea of a knightly prince and a justifiable revolution. The Horse and His Boy, for me, hit on the idea of realizing that life could be better and people could be delivered from oppressive situations. The Magician's Nephew was one I had wanted to avoid because I though that in reading it the magic of Narnia would disappear. In actuality, I found the mystery of beginnings. The Last Battle was a decent ending. The first time I read it, I was creeped out because there was an impostor Aslan. So much of the good of Narnia went away because of deception. But, the ending satisfied me (though, there was a theological conundrum at the end).
Which brings me back to the film. The last time I read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader I thought to myself, "I really would like to write a screenplay for this, or see it be directed for the big screen in a magnificent way". I had seen the BBC series and enjoyed the visuals, but I also realized that so much more could be done now that "movie magic"(silly term) technology had improved. In all honesty, I thought "I would love to make this into a movie," but at the same time "I would hate to screw it up." I wouldn't want myself to limit myself in the cinematography and sets, because C.S. Lewis already does a fine job of creating visuals and awe in the reader within his own written work. An adaptation should add to that, and to me that's a pretty daunting task. So, when I heard that Disney got the rights to make the films, I wasn't sure what to think(I think a lot of people shared felt this too). For one, Disney has the big budget to be able to make it work. They also have the talent, if they choose to use it. But, Disney also tends to do the slightest things (and not so slight) to mess things up. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is essentially an allegory about Christ. Aslan's death signifies Jesus. It wouldn't be too hard for Disney to tone down the spiritual reference for the sake of appealing to a wider audience. These are the two requirements I had going into watching the adaptation: 1) that the adaptation to the screen would actually be worth it as a production, and, 2) that the adaptation would be faithful to the spirit of the source material.
Now, let me apply these two points. On point number two, they did a pretty good job. The thought processes and personal conflict and growth of the children is sorta touched upon without much depth, which is too bad. The reason for this is that a) It's an action movie, and b) child actors tend to have a limited range of expression. But, the good thing is that at the end of the movie you realize that the only reason why Narnia was saved and the children were successful is because Aslan is better than everyone else, including the white witch. You also see the redemption story - Aslan as a Christ figure - pretty clearly. I was actually encouraged in my faith while watching Aslan do his thing. Now, on to point number one. Going into it, I was told by a couple people who view film from completely different perspectives that the filming, editing, and pacing was bit off. I almost didn't see it because of these comments. However, my friends wanted to go and I figured I might as well watch it in the theater among good company. A few minutes into it I could tell that the warnings I received about the editing were well-founded. In all honesty, it's highly flawed from a filmmaking perspective. Sure, there are different fields of thought regarding what makes a movie "good", but I am entirely sure that the editors were either extremely rushed or amateurs. I'm gonna give them and the cinematographer the benefit of the doubt and guess that they were rushed. Same with the composer. Same with the director (makes me want to check out Shrek again). If not, then I really would be curious to find out why and how the decisions were made. However, a handful of people I know who have seen it have tended to enjoy it and not even noticed the problems. Others have. Me - I noticed a ton of problems, but was still able to enjoy it. I think it goes back to the fact that C.S. Lewis' books were so enjoyable that I could weed out the production and still cling onto and follow the general story. Plus, I had been warned. So, all in all, not a great film, but I enjoyed it. Oh, and it's a decent "kid's movie". If they continue with the series, they better get their act together if they want to make it worth it. Otherwise, I might just have to stick with enjoying the books. They still hold up just fine.