I wanted to make sure I reviewed this film for everyone just to make sure everyone’s expectation is set on what this film has to offer and should have offered to its viewers. Two stars isn’t necessarily a bad rating from me… it’s just not a good one either.

I will buy this film when it comes out on DVD, not just because it’s Disney, or because it’s clean, or because it’s a descent adventure for the young at heart, but because of a combination of all three. The books were great. If memory serves there are about eight books in the series, and “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is only the first. Even though it was only the first book, it should have been split into two movies.

The movie started out seemingly fast-paced and eye-catching, but stopped you short of that after about five minutes. Then it seemed to drag for me and my wife for the next thirty to forty minutes as you are waiting for the inevitable Land of Narnia to come onto the screen. Once it happens, it only teases you which eventually made me look down at my watch thinking, “Is this movie really a third of the way over? It can’t be… they haven’t even gotten into Narnia yet.” I couldn’t help but to get nervous as to how they were going to create, involve, and wrap up an entire plot line, villain, hero, and ending within the next hour and fifteen minutes.

I was also very excited to see the creatures and special effects that I was fully expecting to see considering it was done by the WETA Workshop (The designing company who can be praised for making the Lord of the Rings series so stunningly beautiful…aka the armor, weapons, monsters, buildings, structures, etc.) I was very disappointed to see what I could only call a lack of self confidence by the director and his crew with delivering what could have been masterful work. Instead of showing us the amazing talents and abilities that are out there in today’s world of graphics and special effects, he seemed to be so scared to show us too much on-screen time of these half-human half-animal creatures that he ended up cutting most of anything that could have been and would have been great. He would show these “humanimals” running by the screen and they appeared to be blurry and rushed. And anytime you saw them standing still you wouldn’t see much more than a torso-and-up shot.

By cutting all of these shots I’m afraid he unknowingly cut all the scenes that developed the characters into more than just digital forgeries of what could have been great. There was one human-horse guy that was basically “the main good tough guy” which I am not sure if they even gave him a name in the film… if they did, I am willing to bet no more than the hardcore fans who have already read the books more than once could repeat his name. The movie tries to make you feel for him… but you really don’t. Unfortunately the director gave him about as many lines as Darth Maul had in “The Phantom Menace” and about half of the screen time. He would have been a really good character to get to know in the movie, but unfortunately with an hour left in the film… the director has bigger fish to fry.

The talking animals only bugged me for about the first 3-5 minutes, but after that, you actually forget about it and it becomes part of the world and you begin to enjoy the film. The only characters I must say that I really cared for were the two beavers that you come in counter with LUCKILY early on. And you only care for them because you actually get to know them. The director throws in funny lines like when the female beaver says that she didn’t have time to makeup her hair, and things like that. It’s the small things like this that make you actually feel for a character, because they become real to you. You only care about the main lion because you can tell he’s gentle, loving, and cares for his kingdom. He doesn’t have many lines either, and has about as much screen time as the human-horse guy.

Lastly as far as the four human children go, I wish I could say I cared for at least one of them, but it was hard for some reason. I didn’t mind the youngest girl, just because she was a cute little thing. But even then… I’ve seen much better acting even at that young age than what she delivered. She seemed like she was trying so hard that it was almost like she was stage-acting. What I mean by that is that when you stage-act you over-emphasize each of your emotions so even the people in the cheap seats can see your facial expressions. The older sister was a bit better, but only because she was a bit more mature. She also seemed to overact at times. The younger brother seemed believable to a point, but I think he was more robbed than any of them. The movie made him out to be an idiot. But I feel that his decisions could be very likely of a boy that age put into his situations, but the combination of his screen time and lines made it all seem so incredibly unbelievable. And as for the oldest boy, I don’t hold it against him for the directing in which he was given to stand there pointing his sword for as long as he did… come on… was it just me or was that a little annoying? He did it like three different times too, it was very annoying. A small thing… I know, but that seriously bugged me. I thought he actually did a pretty descent job throughout the film. Again, I can’t hold him at fault for the lines he had or his screen time.

Here is a spoiler warning for my closing remarks. It won’t ruin the movie, but it gives away a couple small spots.

The last couple problems I had was that the movie didn’t resolve anything at all. The kids get to a new house. They are there for a few days. They are lonely, depressed, and sad. Their dad is at war, and their mother is stuck in the middle of a war zone. The movie ends with nothing having been changed at all. With the one exception that the kids had a neat little adventure in a wardrobe that for some reason stops time in the real world. So really… what was the use of the story? They helped Narnia… I know. But that alone was hard to swallow considering when they come home, everything is as it was before hand. Maybe that’s where the other books come in, I can’t remember. I only read the first one and that was at least 15 years ago.

My second and last little spoiler/problem is the gifts that “Santa” brings them (which seriously did nothing more than confuse the entire audience) I don’t remember it in the books at all, but I can’t imagine them throwing in such a huge thing without it being in the books somewhere. But that’s not what bugged me. I found it funny and a cute little twist too. What bugged me was that these gifts that he gave each of the kids you KNOW are a huge deal and a huge aide to the kids for some reason that will reveal themselves later in the film… but they never do. And if they did and I forgot so quickly (I only saw it 2 days ago) then that should be proof of how lackluster this film was. The oldest boy gets a sword, which he DOES use… but it’s nothing spectacular. He learns how to use it just as he would any other sword if he were to be given one. There was nothing special about it, and if there was (which there is in the books) then they never showed it in the film. The oldest girl gets a bow which she is told is very accurate and she should always trust in its accuracy. We see it shot once, and it’s not that great. And I KNOW she shoots it again towards the end, but I honestly can’t even remember when and why it was used. It was more of a purposeful use, but I honestly can’t remember… sad, I know. I feel the same way. She also gets a horn to blow in case of an emergency, which she uses once, but that was even a little drab. The youngest boy… I can’t remember. I have no clue what he gets. It’s something… but I have no idea what. Lastly, the youngest girl gets a dagger, which she never uses in the film except to throw once at a target and she gets a bulls-eye. It’s not that I wanted her to go Yoda on some bad guy, but what was the point of it? “Santa” might as well have given her a bag of oranges instead.

With all of my nitpicking, I stand by one of my first statements when I say that I will buy it when it comes out on DVD. It is clean, fun, and it’s about time it hit the theater. The Lord of the Rings series has seriously spoiled us as far as movies go and has set the bar so high that it will be a while until it is reached again in other movies, but the beauty of those movies is not what I was comparing it to on this film. There are plenty of other movies that have added better character development and plot lines and book adaptations and have done well. This unfortunately is going to be one of those movies that I will always label as one of those movies that SHOULD have been great, but was just “ok,” Especially with the disappointment of knowing there are NO plans for any sequels.

Kids will love it… that’s almost a guarantee. Children fifteen and under will be very happy with it, and they should be. It really is a good, clean, adventurous film. Other big fans of the original books should be disappointed for how much was left out, but will more likely be happy that it finally hit the big screen, which is basically where I’m at. But I can’t give it more than two stars simply because I felt too much like the director was scared to do anything more than just get it over with.