With the success of Chicken
Little, Disney Studios has shown that it is
capable of competing in the computer-animated-film business, even if its
wildly successful distribution deal with Pixar Animation is a thing of the
past. In producing a big-screen adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved The Chronicles of Narnia series, the Mouse Factory hopes to set up a long-running franchise to
appeal to devotees of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films.
However, it becomes apparent early on in this
rendering of the first book of the series, The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, that though
Andrew Adamson’s adaptation is a wonder to behold, the film’s
visual delights are in the service of a lightweight story, perfectly suited
for viewers between the ages of 8 and 15. Whereas the Potter films have proceeded to become
more complex and the Rings trilogy is dense in metaphor and complex emotion, Lion’s tale is simplistic
and comes off as clichéd. In this World War II-era tale, the Pevensie children
have been sent to live in the country, away from their London home, which
is in constant danger of being bombed. As Peter (William Moseley) and his
younger brother, Edmund (Skander Keynes), bicker constantly, Susan (Anna
Popplewell) does her best to look after the youngest of the brood, Lucy
(Georgie Henley). Their new residence is a gloomy mansion that sits on a
sprawling estate overseen by the stern Mrs. MacReady (Elizabeth Hawthorne)
and owned by Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent). While playing hide-and-seek
with the other children, Lucy discovers an abandoned room holding a massive
wardrobe that is a portal to the mystical land of Narnia, where the evil
White Witch (Tilda Swinton) rules the land with an iron hand. Soon the Pevensies are told that their arrival has
been foretold in a prophecy stating that they will wrest control of Narnia
from the White Witch and that order will be restored with the aid of an
army being assembled by a long-lost lion named Aslan (voiced by Liam
Neeson). We don’t need the aid of a ham-fisted prophecy to see where
this story is headed. The familiarity of the tale, Swinton’s one-note
performance, and the film’s obvious Christian underpinnings combine
to make the film feel derivative and trite. Awash with good intentions and
grand visions, this movie fails to achieve the emotional impact it
desperately wants to deliver, and its sense of “been there done
that” ensures that Lion is a trifling entertainment rather than a rich, poignant
experience.
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2005.
