An Enchanted Beginning (The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (VHS))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (VHS)
Date:	09/03/06 (310 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Super fx, wonderful story, strong performances

Disadvantages: Religious undertones

“The Chronicles of Narnia” released in December 2005 was clearly meant to be Disney’s big budget rival to the Harry Potter franchise with more movies on the way. “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe “ is the first instalment (written in 1950 by the legendary author C.S. Lewis) in the bigger work “The Chronicles of Narnia” and this 2005 movie is the first in the intended franchise that will re-visit all of the books in the series.

The story begins in war-torn London in the middle of the blitz from World War 2. The Pevensie children are evacuated to the safe countryside and, under the auspices of Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent), they find themselves in a rambling old house with not a lot to do apart from play hide and seek. Before long, little Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) has discovered a large wardrobe through the back of which is an enchanted, snow bound forest. Venturing further into this new land, she encounters Mr Tumnus, a faun with a dark secret. At first glance, this strange land seems to be a place of childhood dreams but the illusion is soon shattered by the Ice queen/White Witch (Tilda Swinton) who fears the culmination of an ancient prophesy. It is said that only the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve can break the spell that binds the land of Narnia in a perpetual winter and bring an end to the evil queen’s reign. By now, the rest of the Pevensie children have also discovered this strange world having initially accused Lucy of making it up. Subsequently taken hostage by the queen, Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes) becomes imprisoned and forms the bait for the White Witch to capture and kill the rest of the children and so end the prophesy. Taken in by talking beavers, the children escape the witch’s wolves and find Aslan the lion and his army. Aslan agrees to help them rescue Edmund from the dark forces of the queen.

The 1970’s BBC television series of “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” passed me by. So when I realised that a full scale, movie reworking of the “Chronicles of Narnia” was being made, I was relieved that I wouldn’t suffer, like many have, from having to make a comparison between the two. Directed by Andrew Adamson, the Narnia movie reaches new heights compared to the bumbling, teenage wizard but probably falls short of Peter Jackson’s more adult “Lord of The Rings” trilogy.

As far as criticism goes then some have accused the movie of being overblown at times. Certainly, there’s a Crusade feel to the battles towards the end and within that lies another problem. Clearly intended as a Christian allegory, both the Crusader scenario and other fundamentalist Christian aspects may upset the more sensitive within the audience. This may be because of a more secular interpretation of the scriptures or even a sensitivity to parallels being drawn with the Christian crusades of the middle ages. This would be taking things to the extreme and if the literary, fictional context is kept in tact then the vast majority should be just fine (remember, it’s just a story!). Some features of the movie are distinctly odd and, presumably, reflect the strange nature of the book at times. Father Christmas (James Cosmo) looks completely out of place even if his inclusion becomes significant right at the end whilst the battle scenes do echo an eclectic combination of The Lord of The Rings and The Crusades.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of aspects of the movie that work brilliantly. Tilda Swinton’s classically, understated interpretation of the ice queen is just about perfect. Brimming with malevolence but softly spoken and deceptively kind to Edmund, the audience never quite knows where it is with Swinton, which lends a theatrical dimension to her lead role. The Pevensie children are generally believable with notable performances from both Georgia Henley as the sweet but defiant Lucy and Skandar Keynes as the ignoble but repentant Edmund. The image of Lucy staring up at the lamppost in the middle of a snow-bound forest with snow gently falling across the light shining down from the lamp is iconic and was, not surprisingly, used as part of the promotion for the film in the lead up to its release. Adamson’s creativity as director is neatly exemplified when for the initial forest scene with Georgia, the diminutive actress was blindfolded as she made her way out onto the set and so her wonderment at the discovery of the winter wonderland is about as real as you can get. The pace in the early parts of the movie is slow as the plot builds and the tension mounts. It’s not slow enough to get bogged down but may give some younger viewers itchy bums as they wait for the story to take off. Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) also contribute to a wonderfully, eccentric Englishness that is added to by the slightly odd Professor Kirke played by Jim Broadbent. It’s Broadbent’s immersion in his own, curious world that mirrors the bizarre adventures of the children in the more tangible Narnia. James McEvoy as Mr Tumnus plays the faun with a gentle sympathy that makes a change from the overriding sense of danger that comes with the majority of CGI creatures that inhabit the woodlands and water of the mythical Narnia.

Presumably influenced by Jackson’s choice of Auckland, New Zealand as the setting for the movie, millions of tiny, ripped sheets of paper adorn the stunning antipodean skyline as the winter wonderland is brought to life in an incredibly beautiful set and is a credit to the cinematography of Donald McAlpine. The special effects are stunning. You will believe that a beaver can talk and that Aslan, the lion is actually real although the beaver CGI isn’t quite as seamless as it might have been. It’s certainly good enough to generate a charm of all its own, helped in no small part, by the rodent duo voice-overs of Winstone and Dawn French. With Liam Neeson voicing the Messianic Aslan, no expense has been spared in a stellar cast. Of course, with Adamson’s experience of the multi-award winning “Shrek” movies then much of the groundwork for the technology used in this film had been laid beforehand.

With a rolling, musical score added to by songs from Alanis Morissette ("Wunderkind) and Lisbeth Scott (“Where”), the changing moods of the movie are captured nicely and sweep the audience along with the action. As if it needed underlining, the movie’s quality has been proved by picking up 2 Oscars at the recent awards for best sound mixing and best visual effects.

Of the two blockbusters shown last Christmas, I preferred this to Jackson’s monumental “King Kong”. With a PG rating due to the battle scenes and a running time of 140 minutes, Adamson has crafted a fabulously imaginative movie that people of all ages can enjoy. It lacks the edge that the monkey-centric Kong has but it did succeed in transporting me to a fantasy world of talking animals and fantastical creatures for a memorable 2 hours or so. “The Chronicles of Narnia” has an air of innocence that other, similar movies, lack. Maybe it’s that apocalyptic paradox that the story has that makes it so compelling. I await further instalments with baited breath!

Thanks for reading

Mara

More movie info at: http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index. html

VHS/DVD available at Amazon from £14.99 as of April 3rd 2006.

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