| Overall Grade: |
B- |
|
| Story: |
C |
|
|
| Acting: |
A- |
|
|
| Direction: |
B- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A- |
|
|
Visually but not emotionally engaging
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
May 22, 2006
37
of
61 people found this review helpful
Although this is still one of the better movies for children this year, I found it rather unconvincing. It has a promising start, with an engaging Mr. Tumnus charming Lucy and the audience alike, but later attempts to heighten the emotional impact of the film actually deaden it.
The extended chase scene, in which the witch and her wolves pursue the children, coming "perilously" close on a number of occasions, particularly fails to engage the viewer. Its repetitive pattern of terror, relief, and excessive sentimentality feels predictable and insincere.
Furthermore, many scenes seem either overly cute or somewhat sterile. Several scenes which should have emphasized the gravity of the situation actually inspired laughter (albeit laughter accompanied by a sense of empathy for the young actors). And the script failed to take advantage of opportunities to explore character development and interaction, such as the scene when Aslan talks in private to Edmund, concentrating instead on static character traits such as Peter's courage and self-righteousness, Susan's reproachfulness and realism, and Aslan's nobility.
All in all, it is visually wondrous but feels like a high-budget elementary school play: the costumes are amazing, and the children are charming, but it lacks in true emotional depth and character development. |
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