Narnia...

I think I may be the only one of my friends who has seen the latest Narnia movie so far that did NOT like it.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I hated it...that has yet to be determined. ;) It has some really good bits, but for me, I think the bad outweighed the good.


WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW.


Let me cover the good bits first:
The ending. SO good. I literally pumped my arm when I heard Aslan speak his famous line. I was so relieved that they actually kept it in there!!

Eustace...was just about perfect. Just as I imagined Eustace in the books. I was very happy about that. :)

Reepicheep...love him. :)

Beautiful ship! Beautiful costumes! Beautiful scenery! Lucy...you just have to love Lucy. :) For the most part I loved Edmund as well!

Okay, for the bad...

Overall...to me, it just didn't feel like Narnia. It wasn't...magical for me. Now, I realize that it's a whole new director, new screen writers...I know about all the different people that worked on it, but...I was originally THRILLED about that. It was like...a whole new chance to make a FABULOUS Narnia movie! But I wasn't so thrilled when I watched the movie. It just felt flat and not the same Narnia.

Now, I realize that they managed to keep in the basic storyline...they didn't even take out huge bits of the story...they just added in huge chunks. Now, I wouldn't have a problem with them adding stuff...but the stuff they added? Green mist?? SERIOUSLY? You should have been in the theater to hear my sister, and my best friend mocking this movie with all it's similarities to other movies:

Green mist? "The Ten Commandments".
Swords that glow? LOTR!
Caspian's new look? Will Turner Wannabe!!!
Just three examples that we threw out there!

What the heck is with the White Witch? Okay, I realize, she may be Edmund's worst nightmare, but seriously? It just does NOT make sense! She's defeated in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"...they drag her back in for "Prince Caspian", which I managed to get over. But to have her coming back and tempting Edmund in the 3rd movie just does NOT make sense. HE was the one to "destroy" her in "Prince Caspian"...when she was "seducing" Peter and Caspian did Edmund fall for her tricks all over again?? No. He destroyed her. He knew not to trust her...not to fall for her! So why the is he doing it again in the third movie? Grrr.

I really disliked the scene where they're battling the "green mist/temptations" and the Sea Serpent...in the book, Lucy calls out to Aslan for help, he sends the albatross and that's what gets them out of the darkness. In the movie, the albatross comes, sure, when Lucy calls for Aslan, but it's not Aslan who saves them! It's Eustace-the-dragon-turning-back-to-boy who saves the day by putting the last sword on Aslan's table. It's just NOT the Narnia story of the book! It's Aslan who saves the day!! Not a human!

To return to the swords...okay, so I realize they needed something to tie the story together, to string the movie along, give them a kinda purpose. But seriously? Glowing, magic swords?? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the Telmarines? They came into Narnia and pushed the magic under...they didn't LIKE the magic of Narnia...so why the heck do they have magic swords? Glowing swords?? *sigh*

Another bit that disappointed me was the whole Eustace-turning-from-dragon-to-boy scene. It was just like, "Wait! What? That's it??" To me, it seemed to defeat the whole story of redemption in the book, where Eustace has to learn to change as a dragon, and it's only when he changes and talks to Aslan...that he has to ask Aslan for help getting out of the dragon suit that he turns back into a boy. In the movie, it's like...he's a rotten boy. Then he's a dragon. And immediately, he's sorry and changes right away into this nice dragon. Then when he saves the day, he's like "earned" the right to change back into a boy! It wasn't through Eustace's "heroic deeds" that he turned back into a boy! It was through Aslan! The scene was just lacking. So disappointing.

Cheesy lines. I mean. Come on. I was cringing. Several times. I wanted to blush for the screen writers.

And one line that particularly bugged me was towards the beginning when Reepicheep is singing his song and Lucy stops to talk to him. Speaking of Aslan's country Lucy says, "Do you really believe there's such a place?" (my wording here...). Wha?? Of all the people to ask that?? Lucy? Doubting that there's such a place as Aslan's country?? Good grief! Now, if it were Caspian saying that, I wouldn't have batted an eye lash. But LUCY?

The soundtrack. Okay, so I know the soundtrack really isn't all that important to most people...but I was severely disappointed. A whole new composer...he could've done anything he wanted, and that's all he could come up with? So sad.


I don't think I'll be able to decide how much I really dislike the movie until I see it again a 2nd time...being prepared for it all, perhaps I'll have a "softer" look on it, but at the moment, my overall impression was one of great disappointment. I felt it held SO much potential...so much great potential, and it failed to deliver. Perhaps I expected too much out of it...I honestly didn't think so! What with a new director, new studio, new screen writers, new composer...I thought it would be great! But I fail to see how overall it was great with so many flaws. It definitely is my least favorite out of all three movies. All I wanted was the magical Narnia I know and love from the books, and I didn't get that overall. Sure I got it for the ending, but is it really worth the entire movie? At the moment, I don't think so.