Narnia and Harry Potter

[dangermousie]

My BFF who has scarily similar taste in movies saw Narnia and HPV.

Her views?

HPV: The only thing I wanted to do to Harry, other than sign him up for acting lessons, was to offer him a haircut!

Narnia: Not bad but it's definitely a children's movie with colors that are too bright in battle and things that are a bit too simple. Lord of the Rings it isn't.

So I am glad I skipped HPV and will have no problem waiting for katranna to see Narnia with.

Comments

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Here's the issue with comparing LOTR with LWW. LWW was written for children. It's a children's book. LOTR was made for adults or at least preteens. It's like comparing Batman Begins with The Incredibles. I've been seeing a lot of comparison of LWW to LOTR which I just don't think is fair for either movie. I'm afraid people are going to go to LWW expecting to see LOTR action and acting. I'm also afraid that anything LWW does with CGI is going to be considered "copying LOTR". They can't really help that LOTR came first, can they? As long as it's a high quality movie, I have no issue who copied whom. That being said, I'll have a clearer picture tonight, since I'm seeing it with a friend and then seeing it again on Sunday.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, my friend said that was the problem with a lot of the CGI/action. It was nice but you couldn't help but think of LOTR as did it all of it first and is now the standard.

I understand that the LWW is quite different in tone and feel to LOTR and should be. I happen to prefer the "grown-up" darkness but it doesn't mean I can't enjoy LWW for what it is, which is undoubtedly a fine movie.

[katranna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hope you won't mind seeing it considering it is a kids' movie. :-P

I keep taking you to kids' movies, heh.

Anyway, as a fan of the Narnia books, I just want to say that the colors being bright is exactly the thing that I like about it from the previews. I mean, they're not technicolor, but from what I see, it straddles the line between being a children's colorbook fantasy and yet still retaining some grounding just right. (Unlike, say, "Labyrinth.")

I doubt they're going to follow it up with more movies... and even if they do, I'm thinking they'll go straight for "Dawn Threader," which, while having more dark elements, still has that same sunny vibe. "Horse And His Boy" would be different for sure, but since it doesn't involve the Pevensies much, I can't see it getting made.

But anyway, the way I saw Narnia working is that it starts out all bright and sniny and candy colored, and gets you all caught up in its world (as a kid), and then with the successive books, it slowly undergoes changes that leave it grimier and harsher (though with continuous mini-renewals), until you get to "The Last Battle."

LWW, while it technically opens during a time when things in Narnia are dark and depressed, was the first of the books written, and was supposed to make you fall in love with that world. So even in the not-so-candy-colored parts, the emphasis was on Narnia's potential as a paradise, not its grittyness.

[morwen_peredhil]

When Narnia comes to TV and I have nothing better to do, I might or might not watch it. Even when I was a child I did not care for the books (I did not think they were well written when I read them when I was eight, and I seriously doubt they've improved since then), so I'm pretty meh over the whole thing.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I started reading the books, but I think I was too old for them. I liked them, but not enough to finish. Maybe I should though. Hmmm...

[equustel.livejournal.com]

In Narnia's defense, the colors should be bright, especially during that battle - the whole idea is it's spring again, after a 100-year winter. Aslan has brought it with him. The land is thawing; the Witch's reign is ending. Narnia has just been renewed. It was never supposed to have the grimy, ancient, "lived-in" look of Tolkien's Middle-earth.

And yes, it's a far more straightforward story than LOTR, but I think there's much beauty to be found in simplicity - if done right.

Anyway. Just a couple $0.02 to throw on the pile. ;)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I personally think LWW is going to have a lot of issue with fans comparing it to LOTR not understanding that Middle Earth and Narnia are two different worlds. LWW was probably the simplest of the Narnia books too. I'd personally love to see what they would do with The Silver Chair or The Horse and His Boy, which are entire different kettles of fish.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

It was never supposed to have the grimy, ancient, "lived-in" look of Tolkien's Middle-earth.


I understand that. It's a different world with different aesthetics and rules. I generally prefer grimy/gloomy, but there is nothing wrong with the other one. I think the ads did the movie a teeny bit of a disservice, because they seemed to emphasize the LOTR vibe and the battles, and even I, not a Narnia reader, knew that LWW are very different from LOTR.

[ayn-rand-fan-13.livejournal.com]

I loved HPV, despite its flaws. The story telling was fractured and jumpy, but the end product was something that I ended up seeing three times. Daniel Radcliffe's acting was doubtful at times, but there was this moment when he utterly and completely sold it that made up for the rest. I was a part I cried at every time I saw it. I don't what about it made me love it, but each time after seeing the movie I was too exited to even articulate a response, I just loved it so much.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I hated the first three HP movies so I am definitely skipping this one and any future ones. All the actors just look wrong and I can't get over it.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

By any chance do you mean HP IV? Since V is Phoenix . ;) And as I've said, I don't know why exactly, but I adored Goblet . Yes, there were huge gaping plotholes and places I could nitpick like crazy if I wanted to - the weird thing is that I don't want to. Something made me love it beyond that. It's strange. And Dan. Well, Dan's made me cry every time I've seen it, so I can't comment on the acting. I'm biased. LMAO I have noticed that Dan is actually much more skilled and competent as an actor when he's with adults - the scenes where he falls apart a bit usually take place with Emma. But with the experienced adult actors, he was spot-on Harry Potter this time around.

I don't understand the comparisons between Narnia and LOTR, except in the cases of people who know nothing about either story. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a children's book, and as such is supposed to be more simplistic and lightweight. The book is only 150 pages or so. I know the LOTR books like the back of my hand and how incredibly layered and adult they are (ah, the joys of researching it for my senior paper back in 2003/2004), and don't know CS Lewis' work nearly as well, but I find very few similarities between the two. If they perhaps resemble each other, it can only be blamed on WETA doing both, and the locale of New Zealand. But the stories are entirely different. No, it won't be another LOTR. Then again - what is?

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Amusingly enough, Lewis and Tolkien hated each other's works. Tolkien really hated Lewis's simply because he didn't like the allegory quality to it. Of course, since they were best friends they could do stuff like that.

Narnia, even as good as it is, isn't Lewis's best work. His best work is probably Til We Have Faces. That being said, Narnia is still a great symbolic work. Not as detailed as Tolkien, but then few people ARE as detailed as Tolkien.

Unless they're picking apart acting or something valid, I really don't understand everyone getting all up in arms over LWW.

[equustel.livejournal.com]

His best work is probably Til We Have Faces.

Holy crap, yes. I finally read that this summer - beforehand my favorite Lewis had been Perelandra - but man, there is something on every page of Till We Have Faces that just... stills me. Definitely his masterwork.

[elvensapphire.livejournal.com]

*nods* I know they hated each other's stuff. But that also gave them the advantage of being able to sit and critique each other, and that extra polishing from a critical eye probably did both stories some good.

Narnia is the only work of CS Lewis' that I have read, so I can't comment too much on that. And I can hardly think of anyone as detailed as Tolkien. The man was a nutter. A genius, yes, but how he came up with his stuff I will never know. Yet I love it.

Unless they're picking apart acting or something valid, I really don't understand everyone getting all up in arms over LWW. I totally agree with you - I don't understand it at all.