The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe/The Shaggy Dog

Today we’re looking at an adaptation based on the famous series written by C.S. Lewis, “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” released in 2005. In the World War II English, the four Pevensie siblings, Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley), are sent to the safety of the country home of an old professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent). While playing hide-and-seek, they accidentally enter the world of Narnia through the magical wardrobe in a guest room. In Narnia, the children see that the once peaceful area has been turned to eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis, played by Tilda Swinton. With the help of noble and magical king, the lion Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson, the children must fight to take down the White Witch’s powerful magic save Narnia, and somehow save Edmund from her evil plan that threatens his life.

Louise Keller said in her review, “As a child living in Africa, one of my fantasies was to ride on the back of a lion, its full mane rippling in the wind.” This is one of the experiences in the magical fantasy world of Narnia, where C.S. Lewis’ timeless characters come to life in a magical family adventure with mythical creatures, breath-taking New Zealand scenery and an exciting score. Like the worlds of “The Neverending Story” and “The Wizard of Oz,” Narnia is filled with magic and surprises. However, like “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, this film depends on CGI imagery to help its themes of good versus evil. The fantasy elements are great and wonderfully realized as the adventure from the back of an old wardrobe takes us from a serious, unsafe world into a magically amazing one.

Directed and co-written by Andrew Adamson, who attracted audiences everywhere with “Shrek” and “Shrek II,” there is an addicting sense of wonder, similar of the nice childhood innocence. Despite the natural English preserve and hesitancy (“We’re not heroes – we’re from Finchley”), we still get involved. In a smart casting choice, the children are completely new, which works to the film’s advantage. Keller said, “They are all excellent, especially 10 year old Georgie Henley as Lucy, who steals our hearts with her cute button nose and big eyed gaze.”

Keller continues, “Tilda Swinton is imposing as the austere White Witch with the ice crown, a vision of pale wickedness who rides in a polar-bear driven sleigh through the winter wonderland. The first glimpse of Narnia, as Lucy stumbles into the picture postcard setting is indelible, snow crunching under her feet, the trees dusted as if with icing sugar.” The characters are lovable, from Mr. Tumnus the faun (James McAvoy), to the loquacious beavers (Ray Winstone and Dawn French), the wily Fox (Rupert Everett), along with the splendid unicorn, cheaters, centaurs and minotaurs. The king Aslan the Lion lives up to his status as the brave and selfless King of the Beasts.

Keller said, “A warm-hearted story that leaps into thrilling fantasy, Narnia is a winner hands down, enabling us to ride the wind, defeat our foes and safely come down to earth.” Children audiences may become fidgety by the 2 hours 20 minute running time, but most will be blown away.

Now we come to the 2006 remake, “The Shaggy Dog.” It’s silly, it’s slapstick, and it’s even, in the eyes of the 8-year-old watching this with you, “kinda stupid.” Louise Kennedy said in her review, “But sometimes -- a chilly Saturday in March, say, with kids to amuse and when a stir-crazy parent needs a little amusement herself -- silly, slapstick, and kinda stupid is just what you need.”

What “The Shaggy Dog” looks like, more than anything, like an old-fashioned Disney movie, barely shocking news, since it is a Disney movie, and a redoing of a couple of old Disney movies from the past. Still, it’s a nice surprise to find a movie that nicely matches itself at a child’s view while also giving parents some nice laughs. Kennedy said, “This is trickier than it seems, and something too many movies try to do with kid-pandering flatulence and adult-oriented innuendo.”

Here, there’s not a fart joke in sight. The bathroom humor just has one funny, if predictable, scene when Tim Allen, as a work-addicted attorney who’s turning into a dog, hesitates in front of a urinal and then lifts his leg.

Maybe you want to know more about why he’s turning into a dog. Kennedy said, “Don't trouble yourself too much: It involves ancient Tibetan secrets, a genetic mutation that's somehow transmitted virally, and, in a nice contemporary twist, an evil pharmaceutical company that's trying to exploit the virus to create a marketable form of eternal youth. (You not only turn into a dog; you reverse the usual dog-years formula and live seven years for every human year.)” The plot is just insane enough to keep the movie going, and not so complex to distract from the real point, which is to watch Allen panting and fetching and chasing cats and (spoilers) learning to be a better husband and father.

Robert Downey Jr. makes a nicely smooth villain, whose festering insanity undeniably comes to a hilarious payoff. Kennedy said, “There are a few unsettling moments in the biolab -- a failed experiment produces a bullfrog-bulldog hybrid that's just a little too creepy -- but mostly the filmmakers strike the right balance between suspense and laughter.”

Credit should be given to Kristin David and also Danny Glover in the nicely done roles of Allen’s wife and boss, and Spencer Breslin as his son. Like the more noisily funny actors, they know they’re in a silly movie, but they never humiliate to it. As a result, we don’t either and that results in a surprisingly good time.

Look out tomorrow for more “Disney Live-Action Month.”