The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I knew that going into this movie was definitely going to be, well, a different take on this film than most people would. I went in hoping to enjoy myself, but...well, I really didn't all that much.

The story focuses on four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, played by William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley, who, after having to leave their home due to World War II, end up finding a wardrobe that leads to a mystical land known as Narnia. From there, they are supposed to fulfill a prophecy and help the king of the land, a lion named Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson, defeat the villainous White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton.

While this sounds like a fun plot, so much of the execution of all of this feels surface level and it didn't really leave any lasting feelings at all. Compare this with Lord of the Rings where I felt like I knew the world, why things were happening, and who the characters were. In this one, stuff just kind of happens with little to no passion behind it, and the end result is unfortunately soulless.

I know that a lot of people really like it, especially in the Christian community because of the allegories to the story of Christ, but while it does its job well as an allegory, as an entertaining story, it fails completely. It gets so wrapped up in this allegory that it forgets that it needs to be more than just a message of Christianity, and so, it doesn't have a real identity beyond "that fantasy movie that is an obvious Christ allegory," and as an atheist, that doesn't mean as much to me.

Overall, I REALLY wanted to like this, but at the end of the day, I just couldn't. It felt like a Lord of the Rings ripoff with none of the things that made it great and ended up just being another generic fantasy movie with no real soul or personality behind it. If you're someone who can gain something from the allegory, then great, but if you're coming to see an entertaining fantasy movie and nothing more, well, watch Lord of the Rings instead.

Next time, we get to once again go back to Hogwarts for Harry and company's fifth year, and this time, after the return of Voldemort, the government is trying to keep the peace by insisting that he has not returned. A dark year lies ahead for our heroes in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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