Wednesday, July 2, 2008

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

Watched this on TV on Sunday.

What’s great

Ms. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch is brilliant! In the book, the narrator tells the readers at her first appearance that she is on the bad side. However, with no narrator in the movie, the White Witch’s sweet talking is very convincing, down to the last action.

The gathering of Aslan and the Narnian folk, as well as the White Witch and her followers as they prepare for war, is much more organised and grander than I imagined from reading the book.

The children’s Narnian friends get a bit more screen time at the ending, as they are actually given the honour of carrying the children’s crowns and crowning them.

What could be improved

Compared to the original book, the Pevensies (with the exception of Lucy) are more reluctant to stay in Narnia to fight for her freedom. While that is a more realistic portrayal of their reaction (imagine yourself entering a strange new land and being told that you are needed to fight for its freedom… would you be apprehensive?), I felt that the movie could have cut down on the children’s arguments.

Also, the part on how the children escape from the White Witch’s wolves with their newfound Narnian friends is longer, much more exciting and original in the book than in the movie.

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