AmateurMovieReviews.com

By Christina VanGinkel

The C.S. Lewis novel of the same name, The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, originally published in 1950, is considered a classic that many say should be reread at different times of our lives, in order to understand fully the true wonders woven deep within the words and worlds within. The movie, based tightly on the book by the same name, is sure to be a classic right alongside its bound counterpart.

I have long been a fan of C.S. Lewis and when the movie opened at our local theater last holiday season, I did not even ask anyone to go with me, so intent was I in being able to watch the show undisturbed. It opens with WWII bearing down on London, and in the midst of it are Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susie, the four Pevensie siblings. When the war hits too close to home, their mother does what many mothers during that time did, she packed them up, and put them on a train to the farmland outside of London hoping to keep them safe.

They get off the train at a very deserted station, to be greeted after a bit of a wait by a housekeeper for a somewhat reclusive professor who they first meet as only a shadow beneath a door, and a stern warning from the housekeeper that the professor is not to be disturbed.

Greatly missing their mother left back in London, and their father who is off at war, the older siblings keep watch over the two younger ones. Bored by the quietness of the big house, though not wanting to disturb the professor, they try to make the best of things by coming up with games that will not disturb the professor. One favorite is the old standby of Hide & Seek. When the youngest member of the four siblings, Lucy, discovers a large wardrobe underneath a cloth cover in an otherwise empty room, she also discovers much more when she decides it will make the perfect hiding spot. As Lucy peeks out of the wardrobe door once more to see who is coming, she then backs up to what she believes will be the back of the wardrobe. Instead, she stumbles from the wardrobe, into the snow-covered land of Narnia, where she quickly befriends a half man, half fawn, Mr. Thomas.

When she goes back through the wardrobe, Peter, Edmund, and Susie believe it is just her imagination at work when she tells them of the land she ahs discovered hidden in the back of the wardrobe. Peter soon discovers though that Lucy is not lying, yet he does not back up her story with their two older siblings. Soon, they all know the truth though, and Peter, betrays them all while in the land of Narnia, accepting promises from the evil white witch, Jadis.

Swept up in trying to save their brother, they discover more than they ever could have imagined, in part that they themselves are part of a prophecy, that two sons of Adam, and two daughters of Eve would save Narnia from the evil icy spell cast over the land. On the run from the evil witch, they receive help from an unlikely cast of characters including two talking beavers and a sly fox. The further they go into Narnia, they discover that just their being there is already having devastating effects on the spell, with parts of the land melting, and spring making a comeback. Still, they need to rescue Peter, or else all will be lost. They seek out the help of Aslan, the powerful lion, and his army, who they learn about from the beavers. Aslan greets the three with honor, but quickly inquires where the fourth is, Peter. They explain about him betraying them to the white witch, Jadis, and then Aslan agrees to a meeting with Jadis, and makes a deal with her that no one can believe he agreed to. From there, the story really heats up. If you are a fan of adventure stories that dare to take you where no other story ever has, then be sure to watch The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, to find out what happens next. Be warned though, that this will be a story you will never forget.