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

At first I didn't really wanna watch this, cos this was one book I didn't read, and thinking that this was gonna be another thing I get to see on the Hallmark Channel (eg. The Snow Queen, Fantaghiro)... but with my 5 little cousins pleading and crying for me to bring them... "I WANT NARNIA!!"... off I went to One Utama with the little weasels, like the A-grade nanny I am.

So how was the movie? Not bad, not bad I say! At times, even
better than Harry Potter, just lacking in suspense... but making up for everything in terms of cinematography, splendid colours in full bloom and set, cute talking LION (as compared to stupid dragons) and a splendid performance by Tilda Swinton as the White Witch.

To give it full credit, it was totally MORE than what I expected inside the Wardrobe.

Full of Christian symbology, I was especially touched by the resurrection of Aslan (Christ has risen??) and before that, where the White Witch cut off Aslan's mane (Samson?) before killing him.

Other creatures of the forest, like the talking beavers, badger, unicorn, gryphons etc. were wonderful as well... I guess kids nowadays are nowhere familiar with these not-kept-in-your-usual-zoo animals... My youngest cousin brother was like... "Hey the Tiger..." And I was like, "LION!!! It's a L-I-O-N!!!" In case anyone thought that this nanny failed to teach the kid to differentiate between a cat with a mane and a cat with stripes :P

The Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, I thought, were horrible, with the brilliant exception of dear little Lucy (played by Georgie Henley). What a stellar kid! Her bravery alone and innocent portrayal of tears really drew the line between a boring act and a lively cast. As for Edmund, I thought he was quite okay too (sullen face, a real little devil at times) while Peter Pevensie seemed to me like he would be better off cast as one of the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music. Susan (played by Anna Popplewell), on the other hand, was the worst of the 4. I thought she was supposed to be good-natured(??), instead of bad-tempered, always pouting, blaming other people, easily infuriated and always trying to catch the attention of the camera at all costs. Replace her with Emily Browning (Violet Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events), and the movie should be perfect!

But one scene I found quite disturbing was the fawn Mr. Tummus, who perfectly looked like a child paedophile/ pervert. I wouldn't let my children anywhere near him, let alone into the Wardrobe itself. :)