The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Family / Drama
2005 / 125 minutes
Rating: 8/10
For those who have not read the C.S. Lewis book of the same name, this takes place during World War II. Four Pevensie children, Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy, are among the thousands of children sent away from London to escape the dangers of ongoing German bombardments. They end up at the enormous house of a reclusive professor, and in exploring the house, the youngest of the children discovers a gateway into another world. No one believes little Lucy, though. They think she is just letting her imagination run away with her.
But another world it is, populated by fauns, and talking beavers, and ruled over by a wicked White Witch who has kept this land of Narnia entombed in winter's embrace for more than one hundred years. There is also hope. A prophecy speaks of two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve coming to help. So when Lucy finally manages to get her sister and brothers to come to Narnia with her, the prophecy seems ready to be fulfilled.
But then Edmund disappears. And the White Witch gathers her army. And the newly arrived leader of the free animals of Narnia – a lion by the name of Aslan – doesn't seem able to stop her.
Cautions
While this won't be scary for kids over ten, the White Witch, her wolf minions, the battle scenes, and Aslan being killed in front of the White Witch's horde, could well be too much for younger viewers. Other cautions are of a more theological nature.
The Bible speaks of God as like a lion (Hosea 5:14, Is. 31:4, Rev. 5:5, etc.) and makes other analogous comparisons between God and animals such as a mother hen, eagle, and bear (Matt. 23:37, Ex. 19:4, and Hosea 13:8). But what should we think of depicting God as a lion? On the one hand, Lewis isn't trying to say that Jesus is actually a lion – Narnia is supposed to be fantasy, not fact. But on the other hand, Lewis does make a close Aslan to Jesus connection in Aslan's sacrifice to save Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and Lewis is just a hair's breadth from stating the connection explicitly in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Book 5 in The Chronicles of Narnia), where Aslan tells Edmund and Lucy that in their world, "I have another name."
Another objection is simply what Aslan gets wrong about forgiveness here. When Edmund returns to his siblings, Aslan says, "What's done is done. There is no need to speak to Edmund about what is past." But, of course, there is. Edmund didn't commit some mistake or oopsy – he betrayed everyone. It's a movie, sure, so there's only so much time, but to let Edmund reconcile without any sort of request for forgiveness or acknowledgment of the enormity of what he had done is to model the "C'mon, what's the big deal?" sort of repentance the world has on offer, which is exactly the sort that gets in the way of both true repentance and true forgiveness.
Finally, in conversing with Peter, Aslan says that "there is a Deep Magic, more powerful than any of us, that rules over all of Narnia. It defines right from wrong, and governs all our destinies. Yours and mine." Insofar as Aslan represents Jesus here, Aslan is saying that there is a right and wrong apart from and above God Himself. Really? No. Good and bad aren't above Him, but their definitions spring out of the very character of God – Who He is defines what right and wrong are (see 2 Tim. 2:13, Matt. 5:48, Rom. 3:3-4, etc.).
Conclusion
There are three different adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to choose from, and this is the very best. While Netflix has plans for a fourth, it's hard to imagine how it could be better, and it is easy to anticipate – given some of the revisionist nonsense already leaking out (Aslan is to be voiced by a woman) – that it will be a great deal worse.
But if you want a more gentle, calmer version, be sure to check out either the 1988 BBC TV series (a solid 6/10, with the talking animals portrayed via life-size puppets) or the quite good 1979 animated version, which rates a 7.
Be sure to check out the trailer below.
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