Movie Thoughts: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe

More comprehensive reviews of this movie are available nearly everywhere, so I will not even attempt one. Besides, as the titles of these sorts of posts testify, all I aim to do is offer a few "thoughts" on movies, books, etc. I have enough guilt over my "things that must get done" list without adding full-scale reviews to it. :-) So here are my random thoughts on this movie:

The White Witch: I really enjoyed Tilda Swinton in this role. She was a good blend of iciness, fierceness, and attractiveness. I found it believable that Edmund would be taken in by her. If anything, I thought she could have been even more intense.

Aslan: I suppose it's to be expected that a character of this sort can never live up to one's imagination. I also found myself remembering comments from a class on Paradise Lost -- that it is easier for us to portray evil in all its "glory" than it is for us to portray goodness. Somehow we always fall short in portraying true goodness. It's either too flat, too sentimental, etc. So I felt that way in watching Aslan. He was fine, but not amazing.

"Not a tame lion": I had wondered where these lines were, and found them moved to nearly the end of the movie (in the book, they're in the middle). It was an effective change, I thought, for the movie, since it allowed the full force of Aslan's character to inform the audience's understanding of the words.

Father Christmas: This is one of my favorite parts in the book, and it was in the movie as well. I love that Lewis sees the Story of Christianity as one that can encompass all the stories we tell, and therefore it is completely right and wonderful that Santa Claus shows up in the story. I found this scene in the movie to be one of the most affective.

Overall, I thought this movie was very good. I'm certainly not a Lewis expert or fanatic -- I haven't even read the entire Narnia series. Also, my favorite work of Lewis's is Till We Have Faces (which I adore) rather than The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe. But I very much enjoy the book and I enjoyed the movie as well.