It's the Chronic- what! -cles of Narnia

Chris and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on Wednesday night, and it was incredible. We were lucky and had the whole theater to ourselves, so we didn't have to deal with any of the usual movie-going asshattery. If the cinematographer of this movie doesn't win an Oscar, then I've lost all faith in the Academy. The scenery was gorgeous, the CGI was realistic-looking and not at all distracting, Lucy was adorable, and the screenplay was well-written. The main complaints I have read about the movie are plot holes, the Christian themes, the dialog, and the pace. Obviously the plot holes have more to do with the book than the movie, so we'll ignore that argument. Yes, the book is a Christian allegory, but so what? Animal Farm was an allegory of the events of the Soviet Union in the early 1900s. Why is the religious allegory bad and the political one isn't? I don't know why people are getting so hopped up over religion lately. I thought the dialog was realistic to children in London in the first half of the 20th century; it's not like this movie takes place today. These points were coming from people on the IMDB boards, and they don't always seem to be the sharpest knives in the drawer. As far as the pace, it's not like I'm the authority on this sort of thing, but as a person who is constantly looking at her watch during movies, I did not find myself doing that once during this particular movie. As someone who had read the book, I could have done without the beginning World War II scenes and the children's subsequent trip out of London, but I think that was important for someone who has not read the books.

Children might find this movie to be a little intense, especially if they aren't familiar with the book or don't understand that it follows the events of the Bible. *Spolier* For example, it may be upsetting to them when Aslan is killed if they aren't aware that he will be resurrected. There isn't a lot of gore, but there is a big war. Chris made the comment that he wishes Disney hadn't produced this movie so that the battle scenes could have been done a little better. I don't agree because the books are children's books; therefore, the movie should be a children's movie. I don't think blood and guts would have improved upon anything. I can't write this without commenting on the acting abilities of the children. All of the children, especially Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy, and Skandar Keynes as Edmund, were excellent. I found all of them to be significantly less irritating than Dakota Fanning and Haley Joel Osment, and I think they have futures ahead of them in the business. I would strongly recommend this movie, as well as the books.