‘Narnia’ big screen debut pleases critics
Critics praise “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” for being a faithful to the book penned 50 years ago by the C.S. Lewis.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It took C.S. Lewis five years to write “Chronicles of Narnia,” one of the best-loved children’s series of all time, and a half-century for his heirs to get it to the big screen but positive early reviews indicate the old fashioned yarn made the journey safely.“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” opens on Friday in North America and widely in Europe in what the Walt Disney Co. and Walden Media hope will be the first of a series based on Lewis’ seven books.
Los Angeles Times reviewer Carina Chocano described the film as “real by the logic of childhood” and noted that the book’s much-discussed Christian themes do not overwhelm the simple tale of four children’s adventures in Narnia.
“As a Christian primer, it’s terrible. As a story, it’s timeless,” Chocano wrote in a review on Wednesday.
Television’s Ebert & Roeper praised the cutting-edge special effects and called it “a fantasy that has charm … beauty and enchantment.”
Reviewers also praised the film for hewing faithfully to the novel’s plot about four children who escape the World War II London Blitz to a country house owned by an old professor.
They discover a magical wardrobe that leads to a wintry world inhabited by talking animals, a white witch and a Christlike lion named Aslan.
Source: Reuters.com © 2005 Reuters
Listen to this podcast
Filed under: Society and Culture, Music and Movies
Provide a valid e-mail address, input your desired password below, and submit your comment. You will get an e-mail allowing you to access your free Gravatar account and upload an image that will appear next to your comments!