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Monday, December 12, 2005
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
We went to see this yesterday. I'm so frustrated, because they made a beautiful movie, with good music and good casting, but ack. Uh oh, here comes a list. Things that bothered me:
1) Whole-cloth fabrication of several scenes. Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the Badgers pursued by the Witch's wolves onto the frozen-but-breaking-up Great River and floating down a raging torrent on a chunk of ice into which Peter has plunged his sword as a handhold? And that's not all.
Which leads into:
2) Complete alteration of the 'feel' of the story.The whole series of books have this very British, measured, carefully-paced feeling of restraint to them which is totally absent here. The filmmakers essentially gutted the original stories, added in a good number of the original elements compacted together for a greater sense of urgency and tension, and mixed in this whole load of new stuff, turning the entire production into a Narnian "Indiana Jones" adventure.
3) Script fiddling. Again with the modern phraseology. Maybe they think your average nine-year-old won't relate to a movie in which the people don't talk like him. Maybe they're right. If they are, that's a shame.
4) The absence of 'deeper magic from before the dawn of time'. I was a little surprised at this, because the reviews I've heard and read of this movie from a Christian perspective have raved about how the entire Aslan/Christ angle was kept intact. And yet there is nothing in this version to indicate that Aslan predates the White Witch or has any greater understanding of spiritual matters than she has -- which is pretty darned important if you're looking at the story as a theological allegory.
5) Character alteration. Not one of the children was written faithfully, in my opinion. Peter is a reluctant hero, with none of the book Peter's best-foot-forward no-nonsense bravery. I got so, so tired of seeing him indecisively point his sword at whomever he was supposed to be killing. Susan is a contrary, doubting bratty sister in many scenes. The nature of Edmund's betrayal is altered. Remember that in the original story, Edmund did not know that he was betraying his brother and sisters into the Witch's hands when he gave away their location at the Beavers'. He still thought he was going to be a Prince and that his brothers and sisters would be his servants -- not that they'd be killed. So much was handled -- eh, OK -- in the movie, but then afterward Edmund repeatedly betrays Aslan and the children -- sometimes in quite desperate moments, but still. Even Lucy, who was otherwise very, very well-handled, gloats when they all reach Narnia together. Quite different from the "brick" of a Lucy who never said "I told you so."
OK, enough negativity. Some things I liked:
1) The casting. The children, the White Witch, the Professor, Mrs. Macready -- everyone looked the part, and the acting was excellent all around.
2) The animated animals. Aslan and the Beavers, especially, were wonderful. I had a few moments of disliking the way the Wolves looked when they were talking -- something about the eyes -- but overall they were also done well.
3) The coronation scene. Excellently done.
4) The execution of Aslan, as watched by the girls. Just about the only story element which I found to be completely, satisfyingly faithful to the original was the one with Susan, Lucy, and Aslan in the time before and after his execution. It was pitch-perfect.
It really sounds like I hated this movie. I didn't. If I'd never read the book I might have loved it. As it is, it is yet another addition to my "pretty good movie but pretty bad adaptation" file. Which is pretty fat. :)
Comments
Maybe the WOlves were supposed to look that way. After all, "something about the eyes", according to Mr. Beaver, is how you tell when someone's gone over to the White Witch.
Posted by: dichroic at December 13, 2005 11:40 AM
I find that the alteration of British stories into American film is often poor. Adaptations these days are also very poor. Hitchhiker's is one that comes to mind. All the British humor is gone (Although the accents are there) and they just stuffed seven books into an hour-and-a-half. Not exactly what you're talking about here, but it brought that rant to mind.
I haven't read the Narnia books since I was school-aged, so I don't know if I want to review before I see the movie. I watched Hitchhiker's right after I read most of the books and everything was so fresh in my mind that I was sorely disapointed.
Sigh. At least they are trying to do some fresh stuff...I'd rather see bad adaptations of good books than bad remakes of great movies...Which seemed to be the huge thing over the summer.
How are you by the way? I have the flu AGAIN. So this is my first time online since Saturday.
Posted by: jenn at December 13, 2005 07:55 PM
Hey, My Friend,
This comes out on Boxing Day here (which is the day after Christmas - I don't think you celebrate this holiday), and I'm looking forward to seeing it.
I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I enjoy reading your blog, as always. I'm kind of missing mine. Maybe it's time to start a new one? Life just seems too rich and full to have time for it, but now I have seven blissful weeks of school holidays, much needed. I am reading like crazy! I have used some of your book recommendations :) I like your taste!
Bless you and your family. love, Valerie
Posted by: Valerie at December 15, 2005 08:55 PM
