I’ll admit: I was worried about this one because it’s my favorite book of the series but also because I’d heard a long time ago they’d added a character that wasn’t in the book. That scared me. I’m also, of course, always nervous that they’re going to Christian up these stories the same way everyone else seems to, which, imho, is poor scholarship. They’re pagan books, not (only) Christian ones.
But the film is really beautiful, deeply satisfying to the 9 year old me who lived in these books year after year. It’s nice, at 41, to see the Narnian world come alive – it’s really well-done and looks damned near what I always imagined. There are some inventions for the sake of plot – like the three new characters and the green mist and some slicing & dicing of the islands – but still it holds up, very well in fact, and yes do bring tissues if you’re the type to cry.
For me, the really uncanny bit is that two of the three new, invented characters are named Gail and Helen. I didn’t catch the father/husband’s name, but how’s that for weird? It’s the kind of detail that makes me wonder if I’m only dreaming it all, this blog included.
Now please go see it, in the theaters, too, so that they can make The Silver Chair. If i don’t get to see a marshwiggle up on a big screen I’ll be very sad indeed.