The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opens in just a few weeks. Unlike most film fans it is this film (and not Harry Potter or King Kong, both of which I am also looking forward to) that I am looking forward to the most for the films left in 2005.
All three of these films will have magnificent visual effects and be a real treat for the eyes… and I have no doubt (although a little nervousness about Kong) that all three will be solid films. But as someone once said; “It’s all about the story baby!”, and with all apologies to Potter fans (most of which have never read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe stands head and shoulders stand above the rest as far as pure story telling goes.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a magnificent work of literature. It is elegant and powerful, simple yet wildly complex with characters that are iconic and an emotional story that test the ties of family, duty, honor, bravery, sacrifice and love. Oh man it’s just such a good story (not to say that Potter and Kong don’t have good stories).
Anyway, the good folks over at M&C have put up a really nice little The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe preview that is well worth the read. Here’s an excerpt:
Yet the books have been a staple in Children’s bedrooms for generations. The simple, easy to understand fantasy world of talking animals and heroic children has strong appeal to kids, once filling the niche that ‘Harry Potter’ now does. That should translate well to the screen, and if the film’s beautiful trailers are any indication, it has.
This world is massive, and is every bit as huge an effects undertaking as ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Like ‘LOTR’, the movie uses a mix of different effects techniques, mixing live action location shoots (filmed mostly in the sweeping landscapes of New Zealand) and beautifully designed sets with computer generated creatures and fakery. This isn’t a movie where the actors have stood around for hours in an all green room reacting randomly to a letter “Y” hand drawn on a green screen. Mixing CGI with other traditional effects techniques not only results in a look that feels alive and full of weight, but it gets better performances from actors, who can only be helped by having some idea of where it is that they’re supposed to be standing.
I highly suggest going over to give the article a full read.
I loved these books as a kid, so I’m also looking forward more to this than the Harry otter flick. However, I haven’t read the books in 20 years, so the Harry Potter novel is actually fresher in my mind. Maybe I should give “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” a quick read before the film is released.