Lionizing Narnia

We saw the Narnia movie yesterday and I am glad to say that it was excellent. My two worries were that:

1) It would depart too radically from the book, violating basic themes or changing key characters gratuitously. This was my big issue with the LotR movies - I think I must be the only person I know who adores the trilogy but didn't like the movies very much. In this case, the movie version of LWW, while certainly adding new dialogue, action scenes, and character bits to the text, stayed true to the spirit and important elements of the book. Some of the additions even improved on the original - e.g., an opening scene set during the bombing of London, setting up the need to send the children away from the city.

2) It would put too much emphasis on the underlying Christian allegory of the book. Here, I feel the movie very skillfully toned down this key element just enough (contrary to fears that the opposite would occur). The allegory remained in place for those who sought it, while it was handled with enough subtlety that those that didn't, could fully enjoy the movie without it being obvious or intrusive. As an existence proof, one person I saw it with had never read the book, and was unaware that an allegorical meaning of Aslan's death was even intended until I mentioned it afterwards.

All in all, for all of us who grew up with these delightful, charming books, and for a new generation ready to discover their grandparents' Harry Potter for the first time, I heartily recommend this magical journey into the Lion's realm.