"Chronicles Of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe"

This was something of a disappointment.

Brought up with the original television production, I had high hopes that this would be as interesting and engrossing - complete update of a childhood favourite. Instead, I found the movie to be incredibly lacking.

Firstly, it is blatantly directed at children. Fair enough, but unlike the Harry Potter franchise, which gives the appearance of including something for the adults who are dragged along to watch it, Narnia has very little that won't make adults cringe and wonder when they can leave. At almost three hours long, this is one arduous film. One you'll probably find yourself cringing throughout.

Tilda Swinton, as Jadis the Witch Queen, is the single shining light in this whole production. Genuinely talented, her character exudes evil and elegance at the same time. She's the only convincing character. After that, it's the speaking beavers, which really says a lot about the human cast. The four kids are irritating in the extreme - especially Lucy, who seems incapable of actually acting, or realising that in a scene when you're running away from something that probably wants to kill you, it's best not to be grinning and giggling.

Speaking of Lucy, her first encounter with Mr Tumnus, a fawn, is incredibly suspect. Everything about his demeanour screams out predatory poedophile, which I am amazed slipped through the censors.

The plot, as it's based on the books, is hard to fault, if completely implausible. A young child's wet dream - being put in command of a fantasy army at the tender, completely inexperienced age of 15 (or whatever Peter's supposed to be), is an okay premise for some people to stomach, but I simply couldn't get on board.

The special effects look like cast-offs from the Lord Of The Rings, especially the castle at the end. The battle scene was perhaps the only scene that didn't have me wondering when it was all going to end! The CG cheetahs, hippogriff and minotaurs were pretty cool, but again paled in comparison with the denizens of Middle Earth.

This will undoubtedly reach the scale of success that Harry Potter has, simply because for every ticket sold, another will have to be sold for the parent (something a lot of people don't take into account, when comparing kiddie-movie to more adult movie sales), but I really don't think it's anywhere near as good.

A comment about the "overt Christian themes": not really. Only if you are specifically told about them will you really notice anything, and otherwise, themes of courage, self-sacrfice and so forth are common throughout the movie and fiction industries. So no, I don't dislike this movie because of any Christian undertones. I dislike it simply because it's not very enjoyable to sit through.