Mark and I went out on a date to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our first date, on which we also saw a movie at the same theater we went to last night. Five years ago we saw What Women Want, and I found it entertaining, however distracted I was by playing the Elbow Game on the armrest. Last night we saw Narnia, and the movie, while beautiful, did an excellent job of reminding me why I never liked the book in the first place. I was bored. A lot of things went without explanation that would've made for a richer movie, and a lot of time was spent on set up shots or detail shots and whatnot that again could've been sacrificed for more information. But, as I tried to keep reminding myself last night, that was the problem I had with the book. Not enough complexity. I'll have to watch the movie again to pinpoint the specific places where information that would've been fun to know was just glossed over. And Mark assures me that the sixth book in the series (or the first in its current release order) has all that worldbuilding and backstory info that I craved.
It's hard to believe I could find a book with so many cool elements boring, but I did, and the movie was the same for me. In fact, the White Witch was the most intriguing character to me, and I found myself cheering for her every now and then, especially when she displayed those kick ass fighting skills. Peter did that cute, wide-eyed, "I'm a boy trying to be a man" thing too often for me to cheer for him during the big battle. And then he had this smug "It's good to be king" expression during the coronation. For a two-hour movie, the main plot points and action sped by so fast, without a whole lot of pause for the audience to understand the whys and hows. And then we had like ten minutes of zooming into the front lines of the armies, and I was about ready to shout "Just kill each other already!"
But if you liked the book, I bet you'll like the movie. It seemed to be a well-done telling, with lots of beauty and good casting calls. If you didn't like the book, chances are you'll be able to appreciate the CGI, the casting, the cinematography, etc, but you'll be bored like I was.
Friday, December 16, 2005
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3 comments:
That's one of the movies I've wanted to see that's been delayed again and again. I've actually never read the book, and I really only wanted to see it to determine if the music used in the previews was the same in the movie. *-* (Inspiration is worth the $9 ticket price!) Seems that most of the movies I go to see lately are for something OTHER than the plot. *-*
I don't think the music is the same as it was very uninspiring in the movie, but really don't take my word for it. I'm clearly biased. :) You can always preview the Narnia soundtrack at Borders or something to see if it sounds like what you were expecting.
I hadn't thought about that - that's a good idea.
I have a feeling I'll be dragged along to see it by my sister or mother while I'm home (so long as they're paying, who am I to complain? ^-*). Same for King Kong, but I'm only going then if we go to the Commodore so that my THREE HOURS (*~*) is spent in rolling chairs with dinner and dessert.
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