NARNIA....FINALLY!

Last Friday night "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe," the first major motion picture based on the book from C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia, opened in the theaters. After reading the series, I was really looking forward to seeing the movie.

But, alas, we had a Christmas party to go to on Friday night. I was extremely disappointed. But, the party got over at 9:30 pm. I could still make it to the 10:00 pm showing on opening night! When we got there, however, it was sold out. Our local theater evidently did not anticipate the interest in the movie and only showed it on one screen. Another Christmas party on Saturday, and then a church party on Sunday. But, FINALLY, we made it to see the movie tonight!

My overall impression of the movie was that it was outstanding! The production quality and the acting were a lot better than I hoped or expected. The scenery was outstanding and the characters, both digital and created by WETA (Peter Jackson's crew in New Zealand), were very, very realistic. The whole audience jumped at the initial scene with the wolf. My wife was a little unhappy at the wolves being portrayed as being on the bad side, but I guess that goes along with being a wildlife biologist who wanted to work with wolves for her career. I was especially impressed with the fauns and the way they moved. I had always wondered about that in books I had read, and the director did a good job at adapting them to the big screen.

The actors who played the four Pevensie children were absolutely outstanding. They performed so much better than I expected, and they lived the parts.

The Christian theme that Lewis wove into the story was clearly evident throughout, and the director stayed true to the book in that sense. While I have read a few reviewer's who disliked the line, I found it profound when Aslan stated, "It is finished," following the death of the White Witch.

The only fault I had with the movie was Aslan himself. I expected him to be, well, more. Hard to define. Bigger, more impressive, more powerful, more like Jesus. I guess it's hard to match your image of Aslan (or your understanding of Jesus) to a movie character created by someone else. Still, they did a good job. Although, I think I would have enjoyed a James Earl Jones voice over Liam Neeson.

Bottom-line: Excellent movie, well-acted, well-portrayed, and definitely worth watching.