Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The

Rating: **/*****, or 4/10

Obvious attempt by Disney to cash in on the sudden popularity of the fantasy genre in the wake of the fantastic Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The trick seemed simple: take a book from a well known fantasy series and adapt it into a sweeping epic of a film, and build an easily exploitable franchise around it. Granted, this first Narnia film did pretty well at the box office, but remains maligned by critics the world over and is an altogether feeble movie based on the classic book by C.S. Lewis. During WW II, the four Pevensie children are sent to live at a big mansion on the English countryside, where they discover a wardrobe that turns out to be a doorway to the fantasy world of Narnia. However, this realm is in the grip of a severe ice age because the evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton doing a good job at playing a ruthless villain) rules the land. The coming of four human children means the dawn of a return to peace and prosperity under the benign rule of the lion god Aslan (voice by Liam Neeson), but the White Witch doesn't surrender her regime so easily and a grand battle for the freedom of Narnia erupts, with the Pevensies at the heart of it (fortunately Father Christmas equips them with the necessary deadly tools to kill their opponents: good job, giving weapons to kids!). Laced with extremely obnoxious Christian overtones (including the annoying parallels between a certain carpenter/magician and Aslan, who dies for the sins of another but is resurrected), this movie at many turns feels like it means to convert us to Christianity, while it's also a poorly acted - especially those pesky kids and a vast array of irritating digital talking animals - and humorless piece of work that takes its fantasy concepts a little too serious, which seems an odd move for director Adamson, who previously delivered two superb Shrek films. The audience, apart from Christian fanatics who obviously loved it, quickly grew tired of it as they demonstrated by making the sequel Prince Caspian do quite poorly at the box office, after which Disney swiftly abandoned the franchise, selling the rights to Fox, where its right wing religious overtones were more at home. Still, general interest in the franchise remains low.

Starring: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Liam Neeson

Directed by Andrew Adamson

USA: Walt Disney Pictures, 2005