I just love magical, fantasy worlds, don’t you?
It’s the whole “imagination running away with you” element that makes the fantasy world so exciting and mysterious. Of course, the fact that it does not exist rules against it but well, it is precisely because this world is not reality that enables you to conjure up your own interpretation of how it would be like if it were reality.

And it is so with the world of Narnia. Here, animals are intelligent beings that can hold a decent conversation with humans (in fact, humans are more likely than not to be sillier than animals) and creatures of all sorts exist. And now that it has been brought to life by greedy movie studios, how does the silver screen version fare against the eloquence of the books?

Well, to be honest, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings. It’s hardly surprising given that the effects team from Weta Digital had also been the creative brains behind LOTR. The whole good against evil concept was also very LOTR, which could be due to the close friendship that authors CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien shared.

Despite the lacklustre reviews, I enjoyed myself very much. I loved the faithful adaptation of the book, thought the pace was steady and the casting was superb. The addition of the war scenes at the beginning added weight to the story and gave an explanation of why the four Pevensie children were bundled off to the countryside. It reduced me into a blubbering idiot, with tears streaming down my cheeks within the first five minutes of the show (note to self: L’Oreal mascara not as waterproof as Maybelline’s Great Lash).

The wonder and beauty of Narnia was recreated so astonishingly by the team and indeed, as Susan said, it seemed so “impossible” that such a world actually existed. But it does. And it houses not just fauns, but also satyrs, minotaurs, giants, nasty witches (well, there was only one) and winged creatures whom I cannot put a name to.

And when Lucy, the youngest (played by a very adorable Georgie Henley), stumbled upon that world via an old wardrobe, you almost wish that you could discover it too. Georgie Henley was magnificent as the forgiving and loving Lucy, and her wide-eye precocious look easily made her the star of the show. Well, almost, anyway. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch Jardis was eerily evil and her capture of Edmund, the moron whom you want to slap silly till he come to his senses, seemed to contain this bizarre and faint sexual undertone. I especially loved the voice characters, ranging from Rupert Everett (the Fox) to Dawn French and Ray Winstone (Mrs and Mr Beaver respectively) to Liam Neeson (Aslan). Liam Neeson was such a splendid choice, his deep and rumbling bass voice was perfect as Aslan.

This movie is definitely not for children due to the nightmarish killing scene of Aslan. While it was not particularly violent, the implicit and tribal-like act was horrific and turned me from a blubbering idiot to a bawling baby. And I already knew what the ending is, mind you.

The aforementioned battle scene reminded me greatly of LOTR: Return of the King, where my darling Aragorn gathered his little troop to storm the Black Gate at Mordor in order to buy Frodo some time to drop that blasted ring into the fires of Mount Doom. When Peter jabbed his sword into the air and yelled, “For Narnia! For Aslan!”, it brought me back to the Black Gate where Aragorn shouted to his men, “Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me…This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you!” But truthfully, it did not move me as much as LOTR’s battles (Helm’s Deep, anyone?) did somehow.

While Narnia cannot hold its own against LOTR’s darkly lush Middle Earth, it is more than entertaining and unlikely to make CS Lewis turn in his grave. You can literally hear the “ker-chink!” of the cash registers as movie moguls plot their next move, ie. a sequel. And goodness knows they have more than enough materials to choose from.

A wonderful choice of Christmas movie. Go with that special someone and soak in the marvel of Narnia together.

[Let's play tag! LordoftheRings, LOTR, Narnia, Aragorn]

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