Narnia: brace for the unpopular opinion
Dec. 10th, 2005 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieSorry ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
katranna, but Husband wanted to see it, so we went to see Narnia.
Meh.
Mind you, I've never read the books. Basically, if I was 8, it would be my favorite movie ever. It's an excellent children's movie (unlike Harry Potter) but unfortunately, I am not a child. So, I found it simplistic and over-long. Lord of the Rings it isn't, even though it invites the comparison because it's a fantasy and because the TPTB take a lot of things from LOTR: certain styles of armor, certain shots of armies, etc etc.
The world-building is quite bad. Why would a non-Christian world have Christmas? Why would all the different species speak the same language, and that language be English? Why is all the food the same?
This world is a children's world. It's safe, unreal in its clean simplicity. Nothing truly horrible can happen, and even the baddies aren't powerful at all (Aragorn would make mincemeat of the White Witch and her minions in record time). White Witch is pretty lame as far as evilness or scariness goes. Also, in LOTR, when characters get acclaimed as heroes (e.g. Frodo), it is because they did these amazingly heroic feats, that did cost them, and that you really feel are amazing. Here, yeah they aren't bad children. But heroes? Come on. I was rolling my eyes. What did they do? Escaped from wolves and fought in a battle (not very well). The acclamation was out of all bounds for their actions. Moreover, there is no sense of their dangers being well...dangerous. Or even uncomfortable. Moreover, their "royal nicknames?" Why are they applicable again? And because most characters are so simplistic, I feel nothing for them. Why should I care about Aslan? He is as interesting as cardboard. Noble cardboard, but still... I liked Mr. Tumnus precisely because he was conflicting and you got the sense he was in trouble.
Basically, I am entirely too old for this movie.
katranna, but Husband wanted to see it, so we went to see Narnia. Meh.
Mind you, I've never read the books. Basically, if I was 8, it would be my favorite movie ever. It's an excellent children's movie (unlike Harry Potter) but unfortunately, I am not a child. So, I found it simplistic and over-long. Lord of the Rings it isn't, even though it invites the comparison because it's a fantasy and because the TPTB take a lot of things from LOTR: certain styles of armor, certain shots of armies, etc etc.
The world-building is quite bad. Why would a non-Christian world have Christmas? Why would all the different species speak the same language, and that language be English? Why is all the food the same?
This world is a children's world. It's safe, unreal in its clean simplicity. Nothing truly horrible can happen, and even the baddies aren't powerful at all (Aragorn would make mincemeat of the White Witch and her minions in record time). White Witch is pretty lame as far as evilness or scariness goes. Also, in LOTR, when characters get acclaimed as heroes (e.g. Frodo), it is because they did these amazingly heroic feats, that did cost them, and that you really feel are amazing. Here, yeah they aren't bad children. But heroes? Come on. I was rolling my eyes. What did they do? Escaped from wolves and fought in a battle (not very well). The acclamation was out of all bounds for their actions. Moreover, there is no sense of their dangers being well...dangerous. Or even uncomfortable. Moreover, their "royal nicknames?" Why are they applicable again? And because most characters are so simplistic, I feel nothing for them. Why should I care about Aslan? He is as interesting as cardboard. Noble cardboard, but still... I liked Mr. Tumnus precisely because he was conflicting and you got the sense he was in trouble.
Basically, I am entirely too old for this movie.
