.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

I have often professed on these pages that I don't read. Not that I can't read, it's just that I don't care to pick up a good book and snuggle in my favorite chair when I can go to the local DVD store and pick up a new release and get a story told to me in 2 hours or less with little effort on my part.

But as someone who spends time sharing his opinions on movies with others, sometimes this failure to pick up the page comes at a disadvantage. Where other more astute reviewers can compare a novel to the film adaptation, the best I can do is enjoy the movie for what it is without any preconceived idea as to how the characters should be developed or argue as to which sub-plots should have been included or dropped for the purposes of pacing. Come to think of it, maybe this isn't so much a 'disadvantage'.

However, the classic novel by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe actually made my list of the 10 books I have ever read, and when I heard that a film adaptation was in the works, I was skeptical as to whether the studio's could pull it off. Sure, I thought, special effects have come a long way and we can thank Peter Jackson's small little films about Middle Earth for showing us that anything imagined could be brought to life on the big screen. But the C.S. Lewis masterpiece had talking animals (beavers and wolves) and we have all seen those talking dog and baby commercials that are funny mainly because they look so ridiculous and really kinda spooky if you think about it.

But hell, this was a Disney production and if you can't put your faith in the company that built the castle then who can you trust?

Narnia was directed by Andrew Adamson, a name that you probably wouldn't recognize over Sunday's roast beef dinner with the family, but Mr. AA has seen time behind the camera on Shrek and Shrek 2. So albeit this might be his first foray into live action, he has dealt with high expectations and a rabid fan base. And based on this result, we may be hearing for of him in the near future.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the film that you hoped it would be. There is action, adventure, a story that transcends age and an ending that makes this a perfect family film - if you can excuse the excessive violence in the climaxing battle scenes.

And although the special effects are marvelous and include a battle sequence that includes charging rhinos and polar bears, it caught me by surprise that acting of the children, particularly Lucy (Georgie Nehley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are what stuck with me the longest after leaving the theatre. And that says a lot. Not only does that mean that a talking fawn didn't stick with me as strongly, but when you think about the child actors out there now a days, the bar is set so high now that it is harder than ever to make an impression. You don't have to look much farther than Dakota Fanning (and before her the Harry Potter folks and before them Haley Joel Osment) to see that the acting among the prepubescent gangs is some of the best that Hollywood has to offer now a day.

If you have read the book(s) or know anything about the story, then you are aware of the religious overtones of the series. Maybe before The Passion of the Christ, Disney might have tried to shy away from the obvious, but director Adamson doesn't pull any punches or try to soften the Testament influences. And that works to the films advantage. Although not preachy, I am sure the worries about the Lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Nesson) being a Christ-like figure who is tortured and lays down his life for others, had those backers who care more about the film's take than the films values shaking in their loafers. But not abandoning the C.S. Lewis theme was a stroke of courage and kept the story on straight focus with convolution.

All this makes Narnia one of the best films of the fall season. Even the talking beavers and wolves were none distracting and I can only hope that the rest of the series is brought to the theatres before the actors have to be replaced by younger, less talented individuals.