Series Review 2.1: The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Series Review 2.1

'Series Review' is Movie Freak 77's new type of Post where a Review of a series's films will be done. Each couple of months films of a certain series will reviewed . 

The first series to be reviewed will be 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series. Movie Freak 77 will soon review 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. Here is the First Review of this Series, enjoy!

Review: The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' Poster.

      The biggest hit and surprise movie of 2005, with the emergence of fantasy teen movies 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' truly shined among those movies.

"Anna Popplewell",  "William
Moseley"  and "Georgie Henley".

"Liam Neeson".

      Based on the same name book, the movie talks about four 'Pevensie' Children 'Peter'(William Moseley), 'Susan'(Anna Popplewell), 'Edmund'(Skandar Keynes) and 'Lucy'(Georgie Henley), who are evacuated to a country home Professor 'Digory Kirke'(Jim Broadbent) due to World War II attacks. When playing there, 'Lucy' finds a wardrobe, which she discovers to be a magical entry to a magical fantasy world called 'Narnia'. There she meets a faun named 'Mr. Tumnus'(James McAvoy), who informs her that 'Narnia' is under a spell put on by the evil White Witch 'Jadis'(Tilda Swinton), which caused it to remain forever in snow, until the prophecy of four-children will save it under the command of 'Aslan'(Liam Neeson). Re-entering 'Narnia' with her brothers and sister, they must find their way to save 'Narnia' and find 'Aslan' to save this land but the deception of the white witch and her followers will surely hinder their mission and put them in grave danger. Other characters include 'Mr. Beaver'(Ray Winstone), 'Mrs. Beaver'(Dawn French), 'Jardis''s dwarf servant 'Ginarrbrik'(Kiran Shah), 'Father Christmas'(James Cosmo), wolf captain of 'Jardis''s secret police 'Maugrim'(Michael Madsen), second-in-command of 'Aslan''s army centaur 'Oreius'(Patrick Kake), and the fox who helps the children(Rupert Everett).

"Tilda Swinton".

"Skandar Keynes".

      The adaptation of this book series has been long been planned and was close to being made in 1996 but production problems and technologies development at the time were major roadblocks. But thanks to the huge success of fantasy movie such as 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter', the production of the movie came along. What differentiated this movie at the time of its release and made it a huge hit was the simple way the producers, director and writers brought to us this huge world, which had many elements in it. But thankfully the putting of this elements and additions made to this movie brought a magical world to the big screen in the most family-friendly and emotionally engaging way possible. At the same time the underlying morals and things to learn were incorporated in such a smooth and easy manner. There were many criticisms about Christian allegories and references that the movie had, which I think were unintentional. But in my opinions critics who basically hated it due to their inability to comprehend and appreciate such a cinematic masterpiece will do anything to show the bad side of the movie.

"William Moseley", "Ray Winstone",
"Anna Popplewell" and
"Georgie Henley".

"Georgie Henley" and
"James McAvoy".

      Known at the time for his outstanding work on the animated hit movie 'Shrek' and 'Shrek 2', director "Andrew Adamson" was the perfect man for the job. Bringing a fantasy movie to the family audience needed a director to be able to bring a less dark tone, without removing the seriousness of the movie. His directing style totally suited the movie, with his style being highlighted especially during the final battle scene (which was one of the best battle scenes ever seen). "Adam", along with "Christopher Markus"('Pain & Gain'),"Stephen McFeely"('Thor: The Dark World') and "Ann Peacock"('Nights in Rodanthe') provided a very good script, where the expansion of the story took a very clear path. The only problem is that many characters didn't have the necessary development and arcs needed to give them the necessary depth. Composer "Harry Gregson-Willams"('Kingdom of Heaven'), who previously collaborated with "Adam" in the two 'Shrek' movies provided a defining score to the entire series of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' with scores and songs that defined the series and complemented it to the utmost degree.

"Liam Neeson" and
"Skandar Keynes".

"Anna Popplewell".

      The first part of the movie may be the least interesting part of the movie compared to the other parts of the movie, yet pivotal to allow audience to get to know the main characters so they can witness the development that they have(even if some had better arcs than others). The point that 'Lucy' discovers the wardrobe is when the movie takes on full gear and starts to deliver exactly what the trailers promised us. The 'Narnia' world was beautifully created and the wait for making the movie to have the technology necessary for the special effects was worth it, thought at some points the effects feel a bit underdone. The second half enters more into the world and culture of this beautiful world. The transition from a cold 'Narnia' to a warmer one was done in a very good manner maintaining the scientific integrity and specifics of the environment and nature. My best scenes were 'Jadis' tempting 'Edmund', the melting lake scene, the introduction of 'Aslan', the sacrifice scene and of course the final battle. Originally the beginnings of this battle weren't included in the book, but the decision by "Andrew" to show its epicness and creativeness was a perfect call. The ending was clever and opened up the door for future sequels.

"Tilda Swinton".

"William Moseley"

      Deciding to bring basically new and fresh faces to the genre and mixing them with few known ones was tricky call, since the decided to rely on the high quality elements of the story rather than the star power. Therefore the decision to cast four unknown characters in the lead certainly paid off big time from allowing the story of the franchise to be able to shine. "William Moseley" could have given a better performance which had its ups and downs, "Anna Popplewell" gave a decent portrayal, and "Skandar Keynes" had a more interesting portrayal in the first half of the movie. The star of the movie was without a doubt "Georgie Henley". "Georgie" gave innocent yet genuine performance that allowed her to outshine her fellow cast members and made her character so popular and remembered by fans. "Liam Neeson" voiced perfectly a very well 'Aslan', a character that certainly was one of the favorite and prominent characters of the entire series. "Tilda Swinton" also made an icon of her villainous character. Her performance when her character tricked 'Edmund' with sweats just showed her abilities and put down how her character was so conniving. "James McAvoy" gave a decent performance leaving his strong personal mark on the character. The remaining actors voiced perfectly the remaining supporting characters, making them shine, even though these characters should've had more development. 

      'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' certainly became a huge hit to many people who didn't know about this series, which is why it is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Official 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' Poster.

-'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' Info:
-Release Date: December 9, 2005.
-Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Dawn French, Kiran Shah, James Cosmo, Michael Madsen, Patrick Kake and Rupert Everett.
-Based on: 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis.
-Studio(s): Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media.
-Directed by: Andrew Adamson.
-Written by: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Ann Peacock.
-Music by: Harry Gregson-Willams.
-Running Time: 145 minutes.
-Budget: $ 180,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic: $ 291,170,957.
                    -Foreign: $ 453,302,158.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 6.9/10.
              -Rotten Tomatoes:
              -Metacritic: 76%.

              -PERSONAL RATING: 8.4/10.

-'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' Trailer: