CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 12/09/05

Simply Enchanting

By danny munso

A children's classic is brought to the big screen with great success by making sure that in a world of witches, centaurs, and even Santa Claus that the characters we care most about are the four little kids at the heart of the story.

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

Ann Peacock and Andrew Adamson and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Based on the novel by C.S. Lewis

During the World War II air raids, the four Pevensie children are sent out of London to stay with an eccentric professor (Jim Broadbent) for protection. They find their new home to be quite strict and drab until young Lucy (Georgie Henley) stumbles upon a mysterious wardrobe that doubles as a gateway to the magical land of Narnia. There, the children learn of a prophesy that calls for them to rise up and lead the defeat of the evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton) who has long controlled the land. With the aid of the mighty lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), the children attempt to fulfill their destiny and bring peace to Narnia once again.

There is always a great challenge involved in bringing a beloved classic to the screen: wanting to make the best film you can while appeasing the millions of fans the source material has collected over the years. In the case of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the writers have managed to not only stay faithful to C.S. Lewis' masterpiece, but actually (no angry letters here) to improve upon it.

The children as portrayed by Lewis were more than a bit bland, particularly the overtly boring Susan (Anna Popplewell), and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), the rebel of the group and cause of most of the story's distress. Co-writer/director Andrew Adamson and writers Ann Peacock (A Lesson Before Dying), and the team of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (The Life and Death of Peter Sellars) breathe new life into the children, realizing that four kids can't carry the film if we don't give a damn about two of them. (Read Markus and McFeely's comments in the latest edition of Creative Screenwriting for how they polished up the novel's characters.) Luckily the script takes its time in the early stages to show us the kids without swords or shields in their hands as they band together after being dragged away from their mother and the city they live in. The early, mischievous moments at the professor's house are so strong that if you threw in Maggie Smith as the overbearing grandmother and Bob Hoskins as a friendly butler, it may have been quite the film on its own.

However, the biggest success of Narnia is its ability to captivate the adult viewer with a story geared toward children. It's the quintessential family film. The kids will love the friendly faun Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy) and quiver at the sight of the White Witch's deadly wand, while even adults will be squirming in their chairs for the climactic sequence at the Stone Table, a scene in which Adamson holds back nothing and delivers a powerful moment of sacrifice that will tear even the biggest hearts in two. As evidenced here, it seems Hollywood is warming to the possibility that kids can handle more than enough in terms of film violence.


Narnia is rated PG, but you hardly notice; you'll be too busy enjoying the race across the frozen pond and cringing at the wolf that talks like Dennis Leary in a, well, a PG movie. Also, kudos to the filmmakers for not beating the audience over the head with the blatant Christian allegory dispersed throughout the story. It's still there, but not in an overt way. Kids won't be worrying about whether Aslan is supposed to be Jesus or not, they'll be more bothered by the fact that he sounds a hell of a lot like Qui-Gon Jinn.

The script certainly has its drawbacks. You never completely buy eldest brother Peter (William Moseley) as a true hero and the final battle never really reaches the epic heights that it probably should. Plus, there's a talking beaver for a good two hours of the film. He actually delivers some choice one-liners, and the relationship with his wife has a Mr. and Mrs. Costanza vibe to it, but at some point, the beaver had to go, and that moment never really came.

Although there are some uneven parts that slow the tale down a bit, the writers have made a strong commitment to Lewis's story and his quartet of heroes, crafting a film that is full of high drama, but never loses its childlike wonder and makes this trip through the wardrobe well worth it.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated PG; 125 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

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