To ominous music, vague shapes emerge from clouds which fill the screen.  Suddenly we recognize the Battle of Britain, seen from above. German planes bomb London, while on the ground, a frantic mother tries to herd her four children into the backyard bomb shelter.

 

      So opens The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the latest attempt to turn a classic children’s fantasy into a blockbuster movie.  You might well wonder why the film begins with aerial bombardment; so, too, did my daughter, who wondered if we were in the right movie.

 

      Before we get to the fantasy, we get a series of images of wartime England: the family huddled in the shelter, the children boarding a train to the safety of the country, then offloaded at an isolated train station, with no one to meet them; finally, they arrive at the professor’s house where they are to stay.

 

      This somewhat slow-paced exposition is all to good purpose, though. These early scenes establish the personalities of the four children who, as readers of C.S. Lewis’s beloved books will know, are destined to become the kings and queens of the magical land of Narnia.

 

      Peter (William Moseley) is the oldest, a leader who feels it is his job to protect his younger siblings.  Susan (Anna Popplewell), next in line, is a bit of an intellectual stiff, inventing games like “guess the meaning of dictionary words” that utterly fail to entertain the younger ones.  Edmund (Skandar Keynes) resents the bossing-around he receives from the older children.

 

      And Lucy (Georgie Henley) – well, she is simply delightful, an imaginative and generally happy child.  Even in the drab “real” world of wartime England, she finds fun.  Naturally, she is the one to find her way into Narnia.

 

      The fairly lengthy “real-world” buildup functions something like the black-and-white scenes in The Wizard of Oz, helping to accentuate the contrast between everyday existence and the richly imagined magic world.  Lucy steps through the wardrobe, out of the fret and worry of war and into a charming winterscape.  Gentle snow falls around her, and her eyes widen in delight.

 

      Unfortunately, it turns out that Narnia itself is in conflict, and the children’s destiny is to take part in a great battle between good (embodied in the lion Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson) and evil (the white witch, chillingly played by Tilda Swinton).

 

      The special effects are for the most part well-done, as almost everyone’s effects are in today’s Hollywood, but not spectacular.  They are not as impressive as those in The Lord of the Rings, but they stand up well against others, including the Harry Potter series. 

 

       Best are the bickering beavers, who guide the children through Narnia, and the faun Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), the first magical creature Lucy encounters.  On the other hand, the CGI-generated battle array at the film’s climax is pretty routine – too much like every other massive fight in films from The Lord of the Rings to Kingdom of Heaven.

 

      What makes this movie stand out are not the special effects but the four children at its center, all relative newcomers.  With nine previous film and TV roles to her credit, Popplewell is the veteran of the group. The two boys have only one previous minor credit each, and 10-year-old Henley is in her first film.

 

      For novices, they acquit themselves well here.  Henley is particular adorable, a Shirley Temple who has yet to become self-conscious about her own cuteness.  Moseley resembles a young Heath Ledger, especially in the battle scenes.  All four look and act like real kids – like real siblings, in fact, bickering, quarreling, but ultimately loving one another.

 

      Advance publicity has emphasized the wonder of Narnia’s effects-mediated fantasy.  Go for the fantasy if you must – if it won’t impress with its originality, still it won’t disappoint you, either.

 

      But save your wonder for the children’s performance.  They deserve it.

 This review appeared in the Aberdeen American News on December 11, 2005.

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This page last updated on December 29, 2005.