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December 12, 2005
The Passion of the Lion
We saw The Chronicles of Narnia this weekend and given all the religious fervor surrounding it, I must say the Christian groups are really reaching.
Overall, the movie was about as good as can be expected from the previews. It is a visual feast with average acting, average direction and ample tie-in opportunity. The story is obviously meant for a younger audience and the movie seems to cater well enough to that crowd. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Narnia has that "it" that people thought the latest Harry Potter movie lacked; I'm just not sure what that "it" is.
The Christian angle is present, but like nearly anything now, it has been completely blown out of proportion compliments of overabundant news coverage. The sacrifice, the resurrection, the tolerance, the prophecy... we get it. The (intended) parallels are there, but given the amount of hype the connection was given made the movie-going experience a bit clouded for me. I kept looking for parallels that weren't there. "Does the lamp post represent the burning bush? The forces of 'good' sure seem to incorrectly look a lot like Roman soldiers; why?" And so on.
The biggest feature of the movie for me was the incredible job they did with the creatures. Clearly, the puppeteers and animators have easily lept the Uncanny Valley as there were very few odd movements that brought the fake. I found myself just marvelling at the incredible colors, textures and mechanics of some of the fantastic creatures. Even the rendering of Jesu...the lion was enough to distract me from the rough acting of the kids. Granted, they weren't Anakin Skywalker bad, but more on par with Harry Potter bad.
If you're on the fence about seeing the movie, go see it. The religious corollaries are easy enough to ignore and the visual splendor for a good part of the film will keep you well enough distracted from the average elements.
Posted at December 12, 2005 09:05 AM | Life and Work
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