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Chronicles Of Narnia
Movie Review
 Remember that movie
where what hid inside your closet was a monster preparing to scare you out
of your wits? To power an entire monster civilization?
The closet (wardrobe)
in this movie has monsters that aren’t getting ready to open your door,
but instead are waiting for you to open the door yourself in order to make
a prophecy reach fruition.
This movie is great
entertainment. It incorporates the time period when C.S. Lewis was writing
the book. If you were read
the story a long time ago, then you are treated to a visual of the story,
at least with the first half. If
you fell asleep and don’t remember the latter half, you are given
flashes of Lord of the Rings, but the movie stands on its own.
 Details also make you
appreciate this movie from the intentions made from the writers and
director. Examples include
the burning lamp at the beginning and end.
You may have noticed how the four children are grouped together
when they all finally end up finding Narnia.
Peter, Lucy, and Susan are grouped together while Edmund is kept
separate at the back when the four of them encounter the talking beaver.
The reason? Edmund is
kept apart because he becomes the “Judas.”
Also, you may remember
in some of your college class discussions of how time viewed by “mere
mortals” is viewed differently by “heavenly beings.”
This is wonderfully depicted by time at the back of the wardrobe (Narnia)
and at the front of the wardrobe (human time).
The transition between the two is given a “tactile”
representation through the wood wardrobe.
A final comment for
this movie involves what you may consider your “amazing” kids.
That is, they are always surprising you.
My older child enjoyed the movie, short and simple. However, for my younger child, it becomes more complicated. His
introduction to the movie started with a box of gogurt, one of his
favorite snacks. I bought his
favorite two flavors and he usually opens the fridge and helps himself to
the gogurt. When I asked him
why he wasn’t eating the gogurt, which usually goes quickly, he showed
me the picture of the White Witch in each of the gogurt tubes.
He said she scared him and refused to eat the gogurt.
He pointed out her scary face and scary icicle crown.
So, after much explanation to try and appease his fear, he was not
convinced that she had nothing to do with the gogurt.
Thus, the whole box of gogurt is going to waste because he is the
only one who likes to eat gogurt.
So while he can watch
scary faces in Power Rangers, the animated shows of Batman Beyond,
Spiderman, Superman, and Batman including the real ones, he cannot take
the face of the White Witch. So
during the movie, he spent most of his time asking, “Can I watch now?”
And a the end of the movie, he made a strong request, “Can we not
buy the movie on DVD?”
We’ll buy the movie,
when it comes out, of course, but make sure he is asleep or not around
when we watch it. So, if you have similar “surprising and amazing” kids,
this will not be the first time.
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