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We got lucky with Netflix and got the Narnia DVD on its release day, Tuesday. I disliked the first half, liked the second half. Far too much screen time was allotted to the intro and the children just getting to Narnia; far too little spent explaining the conflict and Aslan's character (though that IS a different book).While basically true to Lewis' book, the resurrection allegory seemed only grudgingly included. It was clumsily done, as if to be rushed through before anyone really noticed the parallels. The brutal "stone table" scene was, however, well and strongly done. Those objecting to the religious theme ought to just avoid the movie. It’s the whole reason Lewis wrote the story. There's isn't much graphic violence or blood but I was surprised at the un-Disneylike and discomforting portrayal of cold brutality in several scenes.
The use of animation and CGI were excellent; the reality of movie creatures is getting downright spooky. (Though I’m sure it looks better on a TV than the big screen.) Not that the CGI was invisible; it wasn’t; but it's matured to a point where the shadings, textures, and motion modeling were lifelike and completely in synch with the real action images. The animated wolves and the fox, though, didn’t come across as well as the others. The CGI guys added a lot of interesting action and stuff in the backgrounds of scenes too; try to spot it.
Except for the faun, the wonderfully imaged mythologic creatures of Narnia are there only for visual effect and mostly ignored in the story. Its too bad that little imagination and screen time was invested in how the richly mythic creatures might do battle. That was an opportunity missed.
The humans actors were disappointing. None of the children made any emotional impression whatsoever. Compared to, say, the child actors in "Finding Neverland", this bunch were duds. If the director wanted bland actors who wouldn't compete with the CGI creatures, he succeeded. Tilda Swinton was fine as the White Witch, until the battle scenes in which she looked pretty silly. Her costume design didn’t help. Actually, all the one-on-one combat scenes were pretty stiff and sterile…its hard to make a 14-year old look convincing with a broad sword.
Since LOTR has run its course, perhaps the future Narnia movies won’t suffer so much from direct comparison. But the directors and film writers for future episodes also need to better understand that these books aren't simply children's fantasies; their power is in the underlying themes. Ignoring the religious allegory removes the backbone of the story. Lewis material deserves better than to be just a platform for displaying fancy effects.
Follow Ups:
the more frothing this movie seems to induce.
Typical narrow minded libs.From the eyes of a ten year old,my daughter,this movie is pure magic.I bought the double DVD set with all the extras.
To a 51 year old dad........I'll take LOTR over it,which said daughter will be getting the dvd box set for her birthday present.Having endured various movies in this genre,from the worst, Shaggy Dog,to the better,this one ranks as watchable/enjoyable.It's fun watching the lib christian haters shit razor blades when talking about this movie.
And no i don't go to church or worship.
YECH
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"Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven."
-Walter Savage Landor
If this film had been produced during a period in our history when the world wasn't being assaulted by religious extremism at every turn, with self-righteous fanatics battling for the hearts and minds of folks everywhere, with a war on terror being seen by many as a religious crusade, with puritanical legislators lurking behind every door and under every bed, then perhaps Narnia might not be seen as such a propaganda tool. Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in and Disney was not above using Lewis's christian allegorical fable to exploit the current popularity of a fantasy genre films.AuPh
Plans were in the works for bringing this story to the screen at least three years ago, if not more. The idea was even in place far earlier, it just took some time to purchase the rights from Lewis' family.
So, it doesn't seem that this movie has much to do with current political trends, or political/war/religious propaganda. The film is taken from a far-from-current book, and there are many of us who have long awaited its arrival to the big screen. For me, it has absolutely nothing to do with propaganda... it has to do with my childhood coming to life before my eyes.
W.B Yeats, "He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven"... tread softly...
Cheers,
Chris
"Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven."
-Walter Savage Landor
interesting how our perseptions are formed...I preferred the beginning of the movie because it was thoughtful and thought the ending was patched together. Frankly I think the movie should have been longer to explain things more thoroughly. I have never read the book and I enjoyed the movie until, all of a sudden it seems, they were in this big battle. I understood the reason they went to war but did not care because the development was too brief.
> While basically true to Lewis' book, the resurrection allegory seemed only grudgingly included... Those objecting to the religious theme ought to just avoid the movie.Lewis didn't write the Narnia series as an allegory for anything, he himself said it was meant to be taken quite literally. Lewis, along with Carrol and Tolkien, were authors famous for avoidng allegory. There are story elements borrowed from scripture, and a basic morality that aligns with Christian morality (and just about any other version of morality you care to mention, save, maybe, pure objectiveism.)
In the later books it becomes more evident that his is a straight "paralell universe" fantasy world, with no ties to Christianity other than a few similar storylines.
If you are offended by even the hint of a religious-based storyline, then yes, you should stay away from this movie, and maybe re-evaluate your level of tolerance for other's views.
Other than that, the movie wasn't particularly good :)
/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
...certainly, the beginning of the end for intelligent, epic fantasy targeting a more sophisticated adult audience. In spite of Narnia's BIG box-office take, I saw "sharks jumping" all over the place. It doesn't bode well for the future of popular fantasy series from more contemporary authors, especially those with a secular outlook.Here are just some of my problems with Narnia:
The CGI quality was inconsistent and much of it was unnatural looking; the ogre/fairy-tale battle sequence (bloodless, for a "G" rating) just looked hokey.
The film's staging shifted from a sound-stagey back lot appearnce to glorious New Zealand (I wonder if Peter Jackson can sue Disney for stealing his favorite settings? -grin) and travalogue caliber second unit shots that didn't match up well, IMHO.
The ridiculous implication that several disfunctional and rather unlikeable kids became warriors and leaders in a very short time without any special training or special skills.
The idea that this imaginary realm was occupied with allegorical beasts of human intellect co-existing with our modern world and appear fully aware of, but not at odds with, the belief in christianity.
The "brilliant" escape over the breaking ice floe, where the wolves out-'foxed' the kids by going over the frozen falls directly above, ...just like the kids could've done and should've done (even Homer Simpson would've known better)!
Speaking of floes, the reverting of adults back to children when returning through the wardrobe had to be a harrowing experience, ...especially for girls having to go though puberty twice! ;^)
> > > "If you are offended by even the hint of a religious-based storyline, then yes, you should stay away from this movie, and maybe re-evaluate your level of tolerance for other's views." < < <
It may not seem like it from a cursory reading of my criticisms but I'm VERY tolerant of differing views, especially religious views, as long as 1) those views aren't thinly disguised propaganda, and 2) everyone's views, including contradictory viewpoints, are given equal venting in public forums without subjective bias. Those who aren't christian should have equal treatment and the same sized soapbox.
That said, I saw Narnia the weekend it openned hoping that this film would be an interesting fantasy in the vein of LoTR or Harry Potter; it was anything BUT. I'm not easily offended by religious allegory, but I am offended by films that insult my intelligence while not being the least bit entertaining. Disney didn't refund my money and it's too late for me to avoid this Disney-ized POS posing as fantasy, but maybe I can save someone else the boredom and grief by donating 2 more cents. ;^)
BTW, it isn't merely the "hint" of a religious based story, but the target marketing (Disney chose the same folks who marketed Mel Gibson's The Passion) as a "safe" fantasy film for religious drones to allow their kids to see as an alternative to the more secular and imaginative Harry Potter series.
AuPh
e
If you define the word allegory as as a direct, one-for-one representation (i.e. every element in a story will have a real world equivalent/correlation), then, no, the Narnia series is not an allegory. However, take the following quotes from Lewis:"I don't say. 'Let us represent Christ as Aslan.' I say, 'Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.'"
"[Aslan] is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question 'What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all."
While the Narnia series is not, itself, necessarily, an allegory, it is hard to argue that there is no symbolism in the writings. If you read any other works by Lewis, it becomes quite clear what his life was about, and why he wrote the way that he did.
BTW, you want to read a good Lewis book? Try "The Screwtape Letters".
Cheers,
Chris
"Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven."
-Walter Savage Landor
Interesting quotes! Thanks for the information.Yep, a lot of his other work had heavy Chrisitan themes, if not an explicit topic of Christianity. However, some of his works I view as having some Christian influence, though not really falling within the realm of religious writing.
/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
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