C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” came to the silver screen recently with critics calling it “a movie that will be remembered for years to come” and “an Oscar front-runner.” The movie, directed by Andrew Adamson who also directed “Shrek” and “Shrek 2,” effectively portrayed the magical land of Narnia and its characters in the first of a seven book series.
The movie chronicles the adventures of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy into a magical land through an old wardrobe. In Narnia, the four children join Aslan, a lion, to fight the White Witch and save Narnia from eternal darkness.
Dr. Darci Hill, an English professor, said that although many feel that movies are never as good as the books themselves, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” succeeds because it makes its audience want to go out and read the book.
Hill said the movie had a lot of similarities with Lewis’ book and captured the essence of the story and the magic of the land beyond the wardrobe.
“What is redeeming about the movie is that the cast and crew wanted to remain faithful to the book,” said Hill, who teaches a Modern English Mythmakers class. “Douglas Gresham, Lewis’ stepson, had a vested interest in remaining faithful to Lewis’ work and co-executively produced the movie.”
Movie critic Jeffrey Lyons said “The Chronicles of Narnia” has “some of the best, most amazing battle sequences you will ever see.”
Hill said that she was pleased with the battle scenes because they were natural-looking and were not over-the-top.
With a broad audience of all ages, the movie lives up to Lewis’ words, “Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
Hill believes that the film effectively enriches a reader’s understanding of the book, saying that someone who read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” as a child would get an even greater delight in re-reading it as an adult.