I find it sad that Kermode misses McAvoy entirely. Gilda Swinton was indeed fantastic in this, absolutely, but McAvoy gave the film what heart it did have in his very nuanced, very grounded performance as Mr. Tumnus.
I took my sister's kids to see this movie, and my mother too, and my mother cried as the kids were crowned as kings and queens of Narnia. She was actually truly wrapped up in the movie.
The problem for me is that these films expose a lot of the weaknesses of Lewis's allegorical tracts without catching much of their mystical beauty or the dark fear. I would have made them much scarier, and ramped up the refernces to the Gestapo, and the crucifixion. You may not like the religious subtext but it's the source of all the text's power, and if you dial it back in favor of fluffy animals, the film becomes weak and tepid. And please, NO MORE LIAM NEESON. He's the most overexposed noble VO in film history.
I'll be very surprised if they get to 'The Horse and his Boy', 'The Magicians Nephew', or 'The Last Battle'. The cultural sectarianism and racism gets quite problematic.
The scene where Father Christmas (!) gives the children their swords and tells them, "These aren't toys; they're WEAPONS" is sickening. It's like a promo for the NRA and the Southern Baptist Convention at the same time. If Aslan is supposed to be the Jesus for another planet, as Lewis has said, then why do they have a holiday called "Christmas?" Shouldn't that be "Aslanmas?" And wouldn't it take a little bit of time before the holiday became established? Oh well, one shouldn't look for consistency in the works of a man who was consumed with his religious beliefs.
@@farid1406 OK; it's been a long time since I saw the movie. Still, it doesn't negate the substance of my complaint. Santa Claus is giving TOOLS of death to children so they can kill in the name of Lion-Jesus.
@@farid1406 Oh, I see what you mean! You mean that it's just a fantasy movie and we shouldn't take the killing and the death so seriously. Well, see, here's the problem with that: in the world of the movie, the animals and the minotaurs are sentient beings, meaning they have self-awareness as living creatures, something that Christians (among whom C.S. Lewis numbered himself) tend to refer to as "soul." In the world of the movie, Aslan stands for Jesus, and all the creatures in Narnia get to go to heaven or hell when they die. That's because they either chose to be on Aslan's side, or on the side of EVIL. Lewis meant for the Narnia saga to be an allegory of the Christian life. Unfortunately for your innocent take on the whole thing, this means that all of this must be taken seriously.
This was the first film I saw James McAvoy in -- and I thought he was brilliant.
I find it sad that Kermode misses McAvoy entirely. Gilda Swinton was indeed fantastic in this, absolutely, but McAvoy gave the film what heart it did have in his very nuanced, very grounded performance as Mr. Tumnus.
I took my sister's kids to see this movie, and my mother too, and my mother cried as the kids were crowned as kings and queens of Narnia. She was actually truly wrapped up in the movie.
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, I just happen to be right about this.
'Deal with it', he said, and so they did.
why is Mayo CGI in the thumbnail
Problem with this film series, and indeed the books, is that the first is the best by some way, and after it's all downhill from there
The problem for me is that these films expose a lot of the weaknesses of Lewis's allegorical tracts without catching much of their mystical beauty or the dark fear. I would have made them much scarier, and ramped up the refernces to the Gestapo, and the crucifixion. You may not like the religious subtext but it's the source of all the text's power, and if you dial it back in favor of fluffy animals, the film becomes weak and tepid.
And please, NO MORE LIAM NEESON. He's the most overexposed noble VO in film history.
95% ;)
I liked it a lot more than Kermode die.
and the subsequent movies only got worse
They should have gone to "The Horse and His Boy" and then "The Magician's Nephew" and then finally "The Last Battle."
I'll be very surprised if they get to 'The Horse and his Boy', 'The Magicians Nephew', or 'The Last Battle'.
The cultural sectarianism and racism gets quite problematic.
The scene where Father Christmas (!) gives the children their swords and tells them, "These aren't toys; they're WEAPONS" is sickening. It's like a promo for the NRA and the Southern Baptist Convention at the same time. If Aslan is supposed to be the Jesus for another planet, as Lewis has said, then why do they have a holiday called "Christmas?" Shouldn't that be "Aslanmas?" And wouldn't it take a little bit of time before the holiday became established? Oh well, one shouldn't look for consistency in the works of a man who was consumed with his religious beliefs.
I was just happy to see the Lord Commander in his earlier days. Fitting tribute I think.
He said TOOLS not weapons btw
@@farid1406 OK; it's been a long time since I saw the movie. Still, it doesn't negate the substance of my complaint. Santa Claus is giving TOOLS of death to children so they can kill in the name of Lion-Jesus.
@@lanceash you mean killing animals and minotaurs?
@@farid1406 Oh, I see what you mean! You mean that it's just a fantasy movie and we shouldn't take the killing and the death so seriously. Well, see, here's the problem with that: in the world of the movie, the animals and the minotaurs are sentient beings, meaning they have self-awareness as living creatures, something that Christians (among whom C.S. Lewis numbered himself) tend to refer to as "soul." In the world of the movie, Aslan stands for Jesus, and all the creatures in Narnia get to go to heaven or hell when they die. That's because they either chose to be on Aslan's side, or on the side of EVIL. Lewis meant for the Narnia saga to be an allegory of the Christian life. Unfortunately for your innocent take on the whole thing, this means that all of this must be taken seriously.