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

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

There is nothing to criticize when it comes to this movie. I know that's hard to accept, considering I love to butcher helpless films into submission, but it's the truth. I loved every minute and every aspect of this film. Other than the Lord of the Rings films, this is the best book-to-film adaptation I've ever seen.

The actors: With a movie like this, there is always the chance that one of the actors will overact and ruin the entire film, or every scene he or she is in. Every single actor or actress in this movie did an excellent job. All of the main characters are played by actors under the age of 20, the youngest being 11. Georgie Hensley, who plays Lucy, is both adorable and talented, and she does a brilliant job with what is basically the main role. It's hard to imagine that this is her first role, since she does such an amazing job. Skandar Keynes, who plays Edmund, is only 14, but he also does an excellent job, especially as the selfish sibling who rats out his brother and sisters to the White Witch for some turkish delight. Both of the older Penvensies, Susan and Peter, played by Anna Popplewell and William Moseley respectively, are excellent as well. Yeah yeah, I'm repeating myself, but they really are great for such young actors. No doubt, these kids will all be in tons of movies in the next few years.

Even the CGI characters were awesome. Apparently the crew spent half of the film's budget to create the lion Aslan. Good investment. Aslan looks more realistic than any other CGI character I've seen in any movie. And voiced by Liam Neeson, overall he's a very stunning visual effect (again, kudos to the kids for acting so well in the scenes with Aslan, considering there's really nothing there). All of the CGI characters were well-constructed, and the voices for each (including Rupert Everett and Michael Madsen) were chosen well. Major props go to the Weta Workshop people, who created all of the costumes and sets that weren't digitally created.
If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I rarely give that distinction.