Lion? Witch? Wardrobe? What the...?

Movie Review
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Produced by Disney
Original Story by C. S. Lewis

At the time of this writing, I have not yet read C. S. Lewis' book on which the movie was based on. Thus, I was not able to express my views on the comparison between the two medium: movie and book. And this is, in my opinion, the movie's most critical weakness. After watching the movie, I thought back and felt that there was a lot of missing link in the storyline. A lack of continuity, a lack of cause and effect. How did the wardrobe came to be? What was the true role of the professor in the story? Who was Aslan? But then again, since I have not yet read the book, I could not say for sure whether these things were explained in the book. But for sure, they were not explained during the movie.

However, even though I felt that there were holes, a lack of continuity as I have mentioned above, in the storyline, I would like to say that the way the story was told to the audience was excellent. And how does a movie tells a story? We shall discuss the matter on several points.

For the first point I would like to discuss about the music. The first thing I noticed when I started watching the movie was the music composer: Harry Gregson-Williams. Being a fan of the Metal Gear Solid video game series, I came to know Harry Gregson-Williams' work quite well since he started working for the MGS series from the second entry in the series: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Movie fanatics might also recognize him for his work in the movie 'Enemy of the State'. His scores are always dramatic and they are able to steer the audience's mood in the right direction. And that was the case in Narnia: it didn't disappoint. It even exceeded my expectation. This was due to my not realizing in the first place that Gregson-Williams was responsible for the musical score in the movie. It was a pleasant surprise. Every single musical score fits the scene, and it plays the audience's mood very well. My mood, to be exact. And every single one of them is beautiful to listen to. When the first musical score started playing I was instantly carried away. And that is what a story is all about: to carry you away to a distant land.

The second point I would like to discuss is the cinematography. Simply put, each scene in the movie was beautifully done. The camera angle of each scene feels just right. They tell the story in dramatic ways. Case in point: the sacrifice scene. I would not divulge the details for fear of spoiling the story for those who have not yet read the book or watched the movie. I would like to say that this is one of the scenes I loved most in the movie. And the colors were vibrant, full of life. Just like a good picture story book, this movie is full of wonderful scenes and lively colors.

The third point I would like to bring into the spotlight is the acting. The actors and actresses playing the Pevensies are not famous actors/actresses. But their acting in the movie was above average. A bit lacking in charisma, however, but they delivered an above average, believable performance. In my personal opinion, Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie) gave the best performance out of the four. Tilda Swinton, playing as the cruel and heartless White Witch, gave an excellent performance. It could be said that she almost dominates the movie if it weren't for one character: Aslan. Aslan the Lion. Brought to life by the help of the magic that is CGI, and given charisma through the voice acting of Liam Neeson. For every single time Aslan enters the scene, he dominates it straight away.

So, it all comes down to: is it worth watching? Yes, it is. Watch this movie for its beautiful cinematography, beautiful music, and above average performances by it's actors and actresses. It is a beautiful movie, incomplete yet entertaining. Read the book to enjoy the fullness, completeness, of the story.