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OFCS Rating: 70% Fresh |
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| "This gorgeous movie takes your breath away with its spectacular visual storytelling, but Tilda Swinton and Georgie Henley steal the show." |
| ReelTalk Movie Reviews |
| Betty Jo Tucker |
C | "...an overlong, bloated, and surprisingly stale venture into yet another wondrous world that is better left to the written page and our overactive imaginations." |
| FromTheBalcony |
| Bill Clark |
C | "The many moments of sacrifice, resurrection, and Judas-like betrayal feel like they're from another film, and not one with talking beavers and fur coat-clad heroes." |
| FilmJerk.com |
| Brian Orndorf |
2/5 | "There's no hideous beast or CGI landscape rendered here that can compare with what lurks in the mind of even the dullest, least imaginative child." |
| Filmcritic.com |
| Chris Barsanti |
B+ | "The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a weighty children's story about how children make the transition into young adults during a time of crisis." |
| ColeSmithey.com |
| Cole Smithey |
| "They are warriors, drawn into the sense that wars might solve problems, or at the least, beat them into submission." |
| PopMatters |
| Cynthia Fuchs |
2/5 | "Ultimately, the story is too lazy." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| David Cornelius |
B+ | "Despite its overarching Christian themes, Narnia delivers an entertaining yarn." |
| EDGE Boston |
| David Foucher |
3.5/4 | "...an engaging and visually-stimulating adaptation of the first book of Lewis' immortal seven-part Narnia series." |
| Cinemaphile.org |
| David Keyes |
3/4 | "A faithful and exultant rendering of the classic children's fable. Bring on Prince Caspian!" |
| rec.arts.movies.reviews |
| David N. Butterworth |
3/4 | "...effectively replicates the experience of reading Lewis' book." |
| Reel Film Reviews |
| David Nusair |
3/4 | "A grandly successful fantasy. Practically flawless casting, bewitching storytelling and impressive visual effects bring the beautiful, troubled land of Narnia to life." |
| DustinPutman.com |
| Dustin Putman |
| "A fun and literate package." |
| Slant Magazine |
| Ed Gonzalez |
3/5 | "Si uno está dispuesto a atravesar el ropero de la imaginación, Narnia puede ser una magnífica aventura llena de magia, emoción y fantasía." |
| Uruguay Total |
| Enrique Buchichio |
C | "It's gorgeous and amazing, sure, but money can't buy emotional connection, and that's what it needs so badly." |
| EricDSnider.com |
| Eric D. Snider |
2.5/4 | "By the end of Narnia, I felt like I was retaught a lesson I had long since learned instead of living the dream of a new discovery. Suitable in that there are clearly no small metaphors, only small movies about those metaphors." |
| eFilmCritic.com |
| Erik Childress |
| "The Chronicles of Narnia joins the ranks of other fantasy classics ... in creating an amazingly believable fantasy world." |
| DVD Review |
| Felix Gonzalez Jr. |
| "So digitalized that the images start to suggest chintzy old superimpositions" |
| CinePassion |
| Fernando F. Croce |
C+ | "One's left with the gnawing suspicion that while it's a decent adaptation that should satisfy fans of the books, it really belongs on the Hallmark Channel." |
| One Guy's Opinion |
| Frank Swietek |
3/5 | "A visually impressive adaptation of C. S. Lewis's classic tale, which unfortunately slights the forgiveness theme in favor of a big battle scene led by a not-very-Christlike Aslan the lion." |
| Spirituality and Practice |
| Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat |
47/100 | "For a journey into a mystical land, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is oddly awkward and stale." |
| Film and Felt |
| Gabe Leibowitz |
3/4 | "On balance, more of the movie works than doesn't, but this isn't 140 minutes of unqualified successes." |
| ReelViews |
| James Berardinelli |
3/5 | "If the film has one outstanding characteristic, it is that it creates a genuinely palpable alternative universe, made all the more meaningful because it supposedly exists on the backside of our own." |
| Q Network Film Desk |
| James Kendrick |
3/5 | "The odds are quite good that you’d exit the movie theatre pretty much disappointed." |
| Sci-Fi Movie Page |
| James O'Ehley |
3/4 | "My guess is that [it] will appeal to all of us in need of a jab of earnest, old-fashioned moralism to save the day" |
| Perihelion Journal |
| Jay Antani |
6/10 | "The fantasy aspect is merely a vehicle for another purpose, [and] it underdevelops character motives as a result." |
| Window to the Movies |
| Jeffrey Chen |
2.5/4 | "Certainly a feast for the eyes; once the story moves to Narnia, the film is never dull to look at." |
| Big Picture Big Sound |
| Joe Lozito |
3/5 | "A brave attempt, if a little on the safe side." |
| FilmFocus |
| Joe Utichi |
9/10 | "...a fascinating, visually compelling, and totally engrossing rendering of a well-loved classic." |
| DVDTown.com |
| John J. Puccio |
5/5 | "." |
| 3BlackChicks Review |
| Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel |
4.5/5 | "Brilliant child actors eomtionally sell an effects-heavy but seamless and true adaptation of the beloved book." |
| Cinerina |
| Karina Montgomery |
2.5/4.0 | "Neither as clever as Harry Potter nor as epic as Lord of the Rings, but for the children's story it is, Narnia works." |
| MovieCrypt.com |
| Kevin A. Ranson |
4/5 | "There is no one better than Tilda Swinton to play the White Witch." |
| 7M Pictures |
| Kevin Carr |
A- | "this could be considered Disney's bloodless version of The Passion, but couching these lessons of sacrifice and forgiveness in a magical world where animals talk and fauns frolic was an inspired way to appeal to the child in all of us" |
| Reeling Reviews |
| Laura Clifford |
4/5 | "El mundo creado por el autor, es recreado aquí de forma soberbia y majestuosa." |
| Cinenganos |
| Luis Martinez |
3/4 | "It's a ripping yarn, full of narrow escapes, talking animals, marvelous sights and magical happenings that lead up to an epic battle between good and evil. The extensive CGI work is well used and the children are exceptionally well cast." |
| TV Guide's Movie Guide |
| Maitland McDonagh |
3/4 | "The world of Narnia looks exactly as I had imagined it as a child." |
| Mark Reviews Movies |
| Mark Dujsik |
B | "Director Andrew Adamson's adaptation, the first in what is sure to be a series of films, brings it alive with a childlike sense of awe and wonder." |
| Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema |
| Mark Pfeiffer |
6/10 | "Shooting in New Zealand is only one way in which this film mimics THE LORD OF THE RINGS. But somehow one never really cares much for the four children who generally just do the obvious." |
| rec.arts.movies.reviews |
| Mark R. Leeper |
| "[W]arm, sweet, funny, scary, magnificent, gorgeous, expansive, intimate, but mostly completely and utterly charming. And I mean Charming with a capital C, charming like the movie invented the concept..." |
| Flick Filosopher |
| MaryAnn Johanson |
3/5 | "All the CGI in the world can't distract you from the idea that it's all a little bit silly, a children's story that works better on the page." |
| Goatdog's Movies |
| Michael W. Phillips, Jr. |
2.5/4 | "In some ways it is a very good picture, yet it also should have been better than it is...You can feel The Chronicles of Narnia trying too hard to be the Next Big Thing." |
| Aisle Seat |
| Mike McGranaghan |
A- | "The perennial children's classic by C. S. Lewis has been lovingly, thrillingly, enchantingly, brilliantly brought to screen in this flawless adaptation." |
| Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies |
| Nell Minow |
2/4 | "To say that it's all more than a bit simplistic and heavy-handed would be a severe understatement." |
| Slant Magazine |
| Nick Schager |
2/5 | "Descrever este filme como um O Senhor dos Anéis para crianças acabaria sendo uma ofensa tanto para a trilogia comandada por Peter Jackson quanto para os espectadores infantis." |
| Cinema em Cena |
| Pablo Villaca |
3/5 | "4. Oreius and the rest of the centaurs break into a rousing rendition of "Day by Day" to motivate the troops." |
| Film Threat |
| Pete Vonder Haar |
3.5/5 | "The filmmakers have gone for broke, combining spectacular imagery and rousing energy. Although it's perhaps a bit overdone." |
| Shadows on the Wall |
| Rich Cline |
| "Appreciable is its willingness to tantalize with slow reveals, thus allowing its otherwise obvious religious readings to imbue themselves more fully into the unfolding narrative." |
| Projection Booth |
| Rob Humanick |
B+ | "Not only does Adamson do right by C.S. Lewis' beloved book, but he sets the stage for a very promising new franchise." |
| Flipside Movie Emporium |
| Rob Vaux |
B+ | "Magical images, a compelling story and solid acting." |
| Laramie Movie Scope |
| Robert Roten |
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OFCS Rating: 70% Fresh |
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