Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton
Directed by Andrew Adamson

First off, this is indeed childrens' fantasy fiction, so the storyline of the first of the Chronicles of Narnia films is incredibly simple. Not that that is a bad thing. Because of its simplicity, director Andrew Adamson was able to craft a tight and focused film, refreshingly devoid of unnecessary drama and plot twists. In other words, they got to the point fast and stayed there. Visually, this was a very enjoyable film which ultimately led to my liking of the movie. Take the lion, Aslan, for example. I don't know if it was a real lion, CGI lion or combination of both, but he looked damn good! These kinds of movies normally are not my cup of tea, but I really do like the visual effects and the way the story was told, and subsequently the film as a whole.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and the rest of the Narnia films will inevitably be (or already has been) compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I'll add my two cents now. This film was more efficient, more appealing to watch, elicited the proper emotions, and ended in a satisfying manner. I highly enjoyed the realism of everything. Although I know there are some CGI portions, most of it looked like it was shot on a real set instead of relying much too heavily on green screen like Lord of the Rings had to, simply because of the way the story happens. Mythical creatures, fauns and centuars, are expertly brought to life by the effects teams of Industrial Light and Magic, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Rhythm and Hues. It's mindboggling to think about how much work goes into creating these effects, and that's why it's worth seeing on the big screen.

My favorite sequence in the entire film was the start of what I like to call the 'ancient epic battle sequence.' You know, the giant hordes of combatants from both sides of the fight rushing towards eachother with blood-curdling screams, their sharp weapons held high and ready to slit somebody's throat. At the start of this movie's 'ancient epic battle sequence' (and this is not a spoiler by any means, at least in my opinion), the enemy horde begins their charge, but the good guys aren't doing anything yet. That's because the griffins (good guys) are taking to the skies with big ass rocks in their claws that they are going to drop on the bad guys. This is a direct (kind of) recreation of the opening sequence of the film, where you see German bombers conducting an air raid in England.

Now there's a scab to pick about everything, and I will pick at two in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. First, I generally liked the costume design as part of my overall enjoyment of the visuals here, but the White Witch could've benefited from better clothes. The only costume of her's I liked was the big bust of fuzz and golden headpiece she wore in the 'ancient epic battle sequence.' Second, the child actors, with the exception of Lucy (Georgie Henley), could use some coaching to get them to be more natural. Hopefully, little Lucy doesn't grow up to be like the rest of these wooden script-reciters before all the Narnia films are done.