Narnia: The Mediocre LoTR for Kids
Before I even start, I would like to make three things perfectly clear:
1) I love C.S. Lewis. I have issues with many christians, but this is a man who not only had a heart for god, but walked beside him. I find his writings on spirituality to be superior to Pauls various letters to various places (yeah, I know, that is uber-sacriligious). But one of the best ways (that I know of) to know that you are seated in front of a good pastor is if he quotes Lewis. So yeah, I'm a bit of a fan of the source material.
2) The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, while being the most popular of the Narnia series, is (by a significant margin), my least favorite. I found it to be the worst written, and the most shallow of the bunch. From a purely fictional story perspective, my favorite is The Silver Chair. From a Christian perspective, nothing matches up to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
3) I have, in the last year or so, had a complete and total re-arrangement of my priorities in life, and movies ended up near the bottom of the pile. They used to be one of the major driving forces in my life, but nowadays it is *very* rare that a movie will move me.
Ok, that being said, on to the actual movie...
I heard about this flick about a year before it came out, heard that WETA was involved (a definate plus, I'm a fan of their work), and was completely and totally indifferent. I found that to actually be a tad odd at the time, I was a LoTR zealot in that time period, and those two series stand at about shoulder to shoulder for me (for different reasons of course). But while hearing about it, I couldnt care less if I ever saw it or not.
Fast forward eight or nine months when the post-opening hype started. The special effects looked lovely, the actors looked well chosen, and it looked like it was going to be a really good movie. Again, complete and total lack of interest. This time I didnt notice, having just finished radiation therapy I couldnt really muster up the will to care about anything as silly as a movie.
Fast forward four or five weeks after it opened. My best friend had seen it, and she declaired I must see it too. While watching it, I had a few gripes, but for the most part really minor stuff. What I didnt really know was why I wasnt enjoying myself more. I mean, I love the story, the movie itself was really well done, but I would rather have spent the time talking to my friend (the way our time is usually spent), then sit there watching a movie.
Now that I have had a bit of time to think about it (and to figure out that something was wierd in my reactions to this flick), I'm pretty sure I've figured it out. There are certain stories which exist in me in a way that is beyond what was written. It doesnt have to do with good or bad or anything like that, I mean, I love LoTR as much and I adored the movie adaptation (the first movie anyways, but thats a topic for another blog ;-) the difference is in the impression it left in me. When I was a child reading LoTR, I was immersed in a world more real (and more interesting for that matter) then my own. When I read Narnia, I was in a world far more vivid then anything in real life. LoTR is a literal story about literal things. Narnia is an allegory to the christian experience. LoTR is about detail and texture, Narnia is about symbolism and feeling.
Now, with that in mind, how could I ever enjoy a film adaptation? It seems washed out and souless, while the books were vibrant and full of life. I'll re-iterate yet again (I have friends who will read this that loved the movie), It was a good film. The story however was one that cannot be told for me in any other way then it was origionally, without losing what made me love it in the first place.
All that was left for me was a decent fantasy story for young children.
1) I love C.S. Lewis. I have issues with many christians, but this is a man who not only had a heart for god, but walked beside him. I find his writings on spirituality to be superior to Pauls various letters to various places (yeah, I know, that is uber-sacriligious). But one of the best ways (that I know of) to know that you are seated in front of a good pastor is if he quotes Lewis. So yeah, I'm a bit of a fan of the source material.
2) The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, while being the most popular of the Narnia series, is (by a significant margin), my least favorite. I found it to be the worst written, and the most shallow of the bunch. From a purely fictional story perspective, my favorite is The Silver Chair. From a Christian perspective, nothing matches up to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
3) I have, in the last year or so, had a complete and total re-arrangement of my priorities in life, and movies ended up near the bottom of the pile. They used to be one of the major driving forces in my life, but nowadays it is *very* rare that a movie will move me.
Ok, that being said, on to the actual movie...
I heard about this flick about a year before it came out, heard that WETA was involved (a definate plus, I'm a fan of their work), and was completely and totally indifferent. I found that to actually be a tad odd at the time, I was a LoTR zealot in that time period, and those two series stand at about shoulder to shoulder for me (for different reasons of course). But while hearing about it, I couldnt care less if I ever saw it or not.
Fast forward eight or nine months when the post-opening hype started. The special effects looked lovely, the actors looked well chosen, and it looked like it was going to be a really good movie. Again, complete and total lack of interest. This time I didnt notice, having just finished radiation therapy I couldnt really muster up the will to care about anything as silly as a movie.
Fast forward four or five weeks after it opened. My best friend had seen it, and she declaired I must see it too. While watching it, I had a few gripes, but for the most part really minor stuff. What I didnt really know was why I wasnt enjoying myself more. I mean, I love the story, the movie itself was really well done, but I would rather have spent the time talking to my friend (the way our time is usually spent), then sit there watching a movie.
Now that I have had a bit of time to think about it (and to figure out that something was wierd in my reactions to this flick), I'm pretty sure I've figured it out. There are certain stories which exist in me in a way that is beyond what was written. It doesnt have to do with good or bad or anything like that, I mean, I love LoTR as much and I adored the movie adaptation (the first movie anyways, but thats a topic for another blog ;-) the difference is in the impression it left in me. When I was a child reading LoTR, I was immersed in a world more real (and more interesting for that matter) then my own. When I read Narnia, I was in a world far more vivid then anything in real life. LoTR is a literal story about literal things. Narnia is an allegory to the christian experience. LoTR is about detail and texture, Narnia is about symbolism and feeling.
Now, with that in mind, how could I ever enjoy a film adaptation? It seems washed out and souless, while the books were vibrant and full of life. I'll re-iterate yet again (I have friends who will read this that loved the movie), It was a good film. The story however was one that cannot be told for me in any other way then it was origionally, without losing what made me love it in the first place.
All that was left for me was a decent fantasy story for young children.
posted by Google Ninja at 2:41 PM
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