Chronicles of Narnia -- reactions?

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Paul MacLean · #1 Post by **Paul MacLean** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:52 pm

I didn't go to see King Kong (I'm not a Peter Jackson fan I'm afraid). Instead I went to see THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE.

I'm impressed. It admittedy lacks the atmosphere of the Harry Potter films, but the casting was right-on, particularly in the case of Georgie Henley as Lucy (who really steals the show). Also appreciated that the kids were not only British, but *looked* British (and not like a bunch of Californians with faux English accents).

James Cosmo's cameo was also fabulous, tho I don't want to give too much away regarding his character. Suffice to say I was wondering *how* they were going to depict this character without him seeming ridiculous (especially at this time of year) but it really worked perfectly. Liam Neeson lends his noble vocals to Aslan the Lion, while Tilda Swinton is appropriately cold and menacing as the White Witch.

I do feel some elements got the short shrift tho. The film overall should have been a little longer and developed things a little more. I also felt the characters did not seem sufficinently shocked to find themselves in another world, and the older siblings too-quickly accepted the existance of another world, talking beasts, etc. Also the "White Witch" has WHITE skin in the book (not the normal flesh-tones as in the film).

Harry Gregson-Williams' score was *pleasant* but dramatically not too effective, and too subdued and unceremontious in moments of major dramatic import, like the entance into Narnia, while the battle scene just sounded like Han Zimmer.

By and large New Zealand was put to better use here than in LOTR, and kudos to DP John McAlpine for refraining from using "bleach bypass" processing or tinting the film green (as its about time filmmakers jettisoned those now-tired novelties). In all this was a film with real heart, where one cares about the characters, all of whom come-off as real three-dimensional people (even if some of them are animals).

Bring-on PRINCE CASPIAN!

Paul

AndyDursin · #2 Post by **AndyDursin** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:38 am

Paul,
Your review has got me excited about seeing it -- as it were, Joanne was too tired over the weekend, and we had too many Christmas-oriented activities going on.

I actually received a copy of the CD -- listening to it more closely, it's definitely not as bombastic and cliched as I anticipated coming from HGW and MV.

Will definitely check it out, probably after Christmas to avoid the little ones

mkaroly · #3 Post by **mkaroly** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:01 pm

I really enjoyed the film and thought that the girl who played Lucy was simply adorable. She looked like she was having the time of her life- I agree that she stole the show. I'm glad they kept in the Christian "subtext" (I won't write anything here as I don't want to spoil anything for people who have not read the story) and felt it was good entertainment. I disliked HGW's score to a great degree (as I documented on another thread on this site), but otherwise it has been the best movie I've seen so far this winter season. It deserves to do well and I say bring on the rest of them....ALL of them!!

Paul MacLean · #4 Post by **Paul MacLean** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:47 pm

mkaroly wrote:I disliked HGW's score to a great degree (as I documented on another thread on this site), but otherwise it has been the best movie I've seen so far this winter season.

For me the film was otherwise so good I could almost excuse the score. I had to grit my teeth during the Enya / Lisa Gerrard-type stuff tho!

The film needed a stronger, less trendy score. And what a great vehicle for a truly great score this film could have been! One can only guess what a great composer would have written. Oh well...

Paul

Eric W. · #5 Post by **Eric W.** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:55 pm

Paul MacLean wrote:
mkaroly wrote:I disliked HGW's score to a great degree (as I documented on another thread on this site), but otherwise it has been the best movie I've seen so far this winter season.
For me the film was otherwise so good I could almost excuse the score. I had to grit my teeth during the Enya / Lisa Gerrard-type stuff tho!

The film needed a stronger, less trendy score. And what a great vehicle for a truly great score this film could have been! One can only guess what a great composer would have written. Oh well...

Paul

Like Jerry Goldsmith in his prime. That was a long time fantasy of mine that never came to fruition.