The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe (2005)

Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy

First, The Lowdown: A group of children wander into the magic kingdom of Narnia, and become hunted by it's ruler.

London, September 1940. As the British Army pulls back from their defeat in France, the German Luftwaffe presses forward to gain air superiority over the Royal Air Force. Those of His Majesty's citizens still in disbelief of the war lasting longer than Christmas are woken up as the Blitzkrieg brings the bombings to their front doorstep. At the Pevensie household, the frantic Mrs. Pevensie ushers her children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy to the outside bomb shelter as air raid sirens wail in the background. Edmund rushes back inside to the house, against everyone's wishes, to retrieve the photograph of their father, who is fighting with the Army.

Having realized that the war is no longer something reported about on the radio, Mrs. Pevensie (like thousands of others) arrange to have her children sent off to the countryside to stay at the home of the reclusive Professor Kirke. Upon their arrival, the stern head servant, Mrs. MacReady, gives a long list of restrictions, thusly declaring the spacious mansion a “No Fun Zone” for anyone without a baccalaureate.

One rainy day, with nothing else to do, the Pevensie children play hide and seek. Lucy finds her way to an upstairs storage room and hides in its only occupant, a large handcrafted wardrobe filled with heavy fur coats. As she presses further inside, Lucy finds that the is suddenly standing in a snow covered forest clearing with a lamppost. After a few minutes of wandering, she runs into Tumnus, a fawn who is just as surprised to see her as she is him. Tumnus invites Lucy to his cave for tea, and explains that she is in the land of Narnia, which has been ruled by the White Witch, who insures that it is always winter, but never Christmas. When Lucy reveals that she is a human, Tumnus informs her that the White Witch has ordered all humans be brought before her, under pain of death. Tumnus has a sudden change of heart and leads Lucy back to the lamppost so she may return to where she came.

When Lucy leaves the wardrobe she discovers that only a few seconds have passed. Quickly rushing to her other siblings, she tells them of everything she saw, only to have it dismissed as the fevered imaginings of a child. In fact, when Peter investigates the wardrobe, he finds it completely sealed. As they bed down, Lucy sneaks out to go back to the wardrobe, only to be followed by Edmund. This time, the land of Narnia is on the other side of the wardrobe, and Edmund finds himself separated from Lucy. The jingling of sleigh bells draws Edmund to a reindeer driven sledge bearing a slender, pale woman all in white. The woman introduces herself as the Queen of Narnia and asks Edmund of his origin. Edmund, not knowing that this is the White Witch, tells her that he is indeed human. The Queen tells Edmund to bring his siblings to her castle, and that if he does so, he will be made a prince. After being dismissed, Edmund makes his way back to the lamppost and quickly back to his world with Lucy. Once again, Lucy tells Peter and Susan of her new adventure in Narnia and presents Edmund's collaboration as proof. Edmund, realizing the seriousness of what he has told the White Witch, does not want them to venture further into that world and again dismisses the whole thing as a game with Lucy.

The next day's weather is much nicer than it had been previously, and the Pevensie children decide to have a cricket match in the lawn outside. Edmund's swing at bat proves a bit too strong and their ball ends up shattering the window to the Professor's study. Fearing the impending rage of Mrs. MacReady, the children scramble upstairs to hide in Lucy's wardrobe, and find themselves in the land of Narnia. After gloating in vindication, Lucy leads them to Tumnus's cave, only to see that it has been ransacked. A written decree on the floor has declared Tumnus a traitor to the Queen for failing to bring Lucy to her – and the punishment is death. Having realized that Narnia is just as dangerous as Earth, Peter tells his siblings that they should return home. However, outside a talking beaver beseeches the children to follow him to a safe shelter, for they are being tracked. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver greet the children warmly, but also tell them they are in grave danger. Having strayed into the land of Narnia, they may very well fulfill an ancient prophesy, which states that when two Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve sit at the four thrones of Cair Paravel, the White Witch's reign will be usurped. Determined to not have this come about, the White Witch has declared that all humans are to be brought before her – and executed.

However, Mr. Beaver has word that the exiled and true King of Narnia, Aslan the Lion, is amassing an army on the outskirts, waiting for the proper moment to strike and fulfill the prophecy.

In any fantasy literary circle, once you start talking about J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you eventually get to talking about C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Indeed, if you do an analysis of both authors, you begin note the similarities between their field of study and the thematic elements of their writing. Tolkien was a linguist, with a keen interest in Old English and its origins in the German and Norse dialects. Thusly, his most famous opus reads much like a dry, yet concise prosaic translation of Beowulf, complete with appendices and a concordance. Lewis, on the other hand, was a student of medieval literature, and a devout Christian apologist – having published About Christianity and The Screwtape Letters many years previous to Narnia. As such, Narnia (especially the first few volumes) comes across as a gross oversimplification of the Crucifixion, but watered down for a younger audience. And that I think is the significant difference between the two authors. Tolkien's characters are broadly archetypal, fitting in with most Germanic and Arthurian legend. Lewis, however, merely translates biblical metaphor literally – the messianic “Lion of Narnia” is scourged, executed and resurrected (trust me, that's not a spoiler, it becomes eye-rollingly obvious the more Aslan is on the screen); and what doesn't come from the bible seems to conveniently be borrowed from William Shakespeare. (The unwitting traitor is named Edmund? C'mon.)

Having not read the books recently, my memory of Wardrobe is a little hazy. As it is, I remember thinking that the Pensevies came off as written by someone who did not find himself entirely comfortable with children, so it is refreshing to see that in this telling of the story, our central characters were given a bit more depth (and actually behaved like children.)

Line of the movie: “Some children just don't know when to stop pretending.”

Three and a Half stars. Best when served warm.