joiedecombat | (no subject)

Finally made it in to see The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe! Happy fangirl squee!

...and now that I've had some time for the buzz to wear off, some thoughts in complete sentences.

Verdict: fantabulous. I am a happy, happy fangirl and I came home grinning like an idiot. It was quite faithful to the book, nicely put together and exciting and the visual effects were fantastic. The kids playing the Pevensies did great jobs. I was particularly impressed by William Moseley, who played Peter - and also with how well the talking animals were done, and how much they managed to emote. Especially Aslan (mmmm, Liam Neeson voice). A far cry from the actors in wolf and beaver suits in the old BBC miniseries, which was the sort of thing which probably prompted Lewis to say that he didn't want a movie made of the books.

I do have some quibbles, though they're minor in the grand sceme of things. I've read the book and listened to the book-on-tape and seen the old BBC version so many times that there were small things here and there - little lines and such - that I found myself expecting. I caught myself listening for "It's cold. Hang it all, it's wet, too." and "This is no thaw. This is spring! This is Aslan's doing!" and "Back! Let the prince win his spurs!" ... although that last probably wouldn't have made a lot of sense to some of the audience. Ah well.

As I rewatch the BBC miniseries - made in 1988 and looking its age - my vague impression of something missing has crystalized a bit and I realize that I'd have really liked it if they'd been able to spend more time on the conversations from the original story... all the scenes were more or less covered, but there was some condensing that the running time of a feature film required. For instance, the Beavers' explanation of just who Aslan is. (Although they did make a point of working in the "not a tame lion" line later on, thankfully.) And Aslan advising Peter on battle tactics between his agreement with the Witch and the fulfilling of that agreement in the Stone Table sequence. Professor Kirke's argument for believing Lucy was rather more logical originally as well. There was at least one scene added in created from whole cloth, and would have been happy to trade it - cool as it was - for more time spent with the dialogue that helped set things up and really flesh the world and the situation out.

But I do understand the necessity of keeping the running time sane. Maybe there'll be some extended scenes on the DVD when it comes out. That would be excellent.

Tilda Swinton as the White Which seemed a little off for me, too, which I think was partly to do with my preconceived notions and partly her wonky costuming. She grew on me the longer the movie went on, particularly from the Stone Table scene onward. And "he turned you in. For sweeties," was particularly cool.

Overall, minor quibbles, and I really did love it - both for the overall effect and for a thousand and one little things that I mostly can't bring to mind right now, aside from love for things like the horse snarking at Edmund, "My name is Philip," and the fox zinging the White Witch with "I wasn't speaking to you." And Peter sounding entirely appropriately out of his depth when commenting that while numbers alone don't win a battle, "I'll bet they help."

And the kids really were excellent. Another comparison to the BBC version: the four children in the miniseries, although presented as siblings, don't come across nearly as much like siblings... which probably is partly because the miniseries had a lower budget for talent, and partly because aside from Lucy they all look closer to the same age. But still, the kids in the movie warmed my heart every time they glommed onto one another in relief. I especially liked Peter, as I mentioned, and I also liked that Edmund was portrayed as, yes, a sulky, spiteful kid at first, but one who quickly loses the sulkiness and spitefulness and demonstrates his basic decency pretty much as soon as he has it proved to him that no, the White Witch really is the bad guy... it's just that by that point, he's in way over his head and doesn't know what to do about it.

I demand Prince Caspian and Voyage Of The Dawn Treader movies. At the very least.