The Chronicles of Narnia movie series was originally based on the books written by C.S Lewis. I personally have not read the book series at the time I'm writing this review so hopefully I'm not rubbing anybody the wrong way that I decided to watch the movie before reading the books. The movie is brought to you by Walden Media who has teamed up with the aid of Disney to bring C.S Lewis’s vision to life.
Four siblings are sent away to live with Professor Digory Kirke during World War II. His housekeeper, Mrs Macready, is very strict with making sure the children stay out of trouble. While playing hide and seek the youngest sibling named Lucy, discovers a wardrobe that happens to be a magical gateway into the land of Narnia. There, she meets a faun named Tumnus. Tumnus invites her to stay for tea as he tells the story of how the White Witch cursed Narnia into an eternal winter 100 years ago. When she returns home she finds that no time has passed and the other siblings don't believe her story. The next time Lucy heads to the wardrobe, his older brother Edmund follows and happens to come upon the White Witch who tries to bribe Edmund with food and offers him a chance to become king if he brings the rest of her siblings to her castle. Lucy finds Edmund afterwards and she guides him back to the entrance of the wardrobe.
The next day afterwards, all four of the siblings try to hide from Mrs Macready after accidentally breaking a window. They decide to hide in the wardrobe and to Peter and Susan’s surprise, the wardrobe really is a portal to the realm of Narnia. Lucy takes them to see Tumnes only to discover his home has been ransacked by the White Witch. Soon after they meet a pair of anatphmorphiomic beavers who tell the children about the White Witches plans and that the only one who can stop her is a lion named Aslan. At the same time, they discover that Edmund has suddenly left without them to find the White Witch, getting him captured in the process. It is now up to the rest of the siblings to find Asland, save Edmund and to stop the White Witch's curse over Narnia.
Whew, man that was long. I didn’t even mention half of the things that happen in this movie mostly due to spoilers and just how long the movie is in general. I will admit that the long running time isn’t really necessary. I could definitely have shortened things down and maybe not have such a slow pace for the most part. Then again, this is based on a book after all and it seems they definitely did stay mostly true to the spirit of its literary source. Every plot point they set up does pay off and there are certain rules this world sets that are never broken in any way. Still, it would have helped to be a little faster when telling its story. The characters in the Narnia world have different personalities when the main characters are introduced to them. I especially like when we meet Tumnes for the first time and just how kind and somewhat fragile he is. The main characters themselves however (with the exception of Lucy and maybe Edmund) I found decent enough but maybe they could have had a little more personality to make their journey and character arcs more interesting.
The visuals look pretty good considering this was 2005 when CGI was a relatively new thing in movies. Though some of the CGI can be kinda obvious (Mostly with the anamorphic characters), I do appreciate the level of detail that went into making Narnia look as Magical as they possibly could and I especially like how the cursed winter landscapes slowly but surely turn into lush and green spring landscapes as the White Witch starts to lose her powers. I also like how they used a combination of CGI and practical effects to make the Fauns and Centaurs. The music isn’t anything that special though. It still works in terms of the story but I just kinda found it to be your generic fantasy movie soundtrack. there are not that many music pieces that really stand out from other fantasy movies which isn't a huge loss, but it still could have been better in many ways.
Overall, The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is a good movie with pretty visuals, likable characters and an interesting enough story that despite it being long, still comes across as effective for what it's trying to accomplish. I’m not gonna act like this is the best Fantasy movie I’ve ever seen, but it is still good and hey it's better than it being forgettable and bland which is enough for me to give this movie a recommendation.
(Final Grade: B)