My Glorified Comment

The majority of this post was originally a comment I left on the Colonel's excellent review of the new Narnia movie. But because I haven't posted in awhile (and inspiration hasn't been kicking me square in the butt), I decided the extended comment would make just as good a post as any.

Keep in mind, however, that it is not as full a review as the Colonel's. It's more a focused rant than anything. And some parts of it refer back to the original review, so you may want to start there.

I know, I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but one crummy post per week is better than one great post every week and a half, right?

Here's the comment with a few minor changes and additions. (Also keep in mind that, like the Colonel, I did, in fact, like the movie.)

I'm not one to nitpick about changes from book to movie (keep those elves a'comin to Helm's Deep). For the most part, such changes are necessary for the relatively brief time frame and quick pacing of visual media.

In that regard, most of the changes from book to movie were added to further character development in an efficient way, i.e. Edmund's meeting with Tumnus in the Witch's castle. I didn't mind that because it adds one more step to his development so his ultimate conversion is not in sudden Lucasian fashion.

There were some changes, however, that bothered me. For example, I think the movie hit the wrong note with the professor. He's such a likeable character in the book, but it seemed as though the movie did not know how to handle him.

Certainly he's somewhat mysterious in the book, but I think the movie overplayed that angle, giving him a constant aura of suppressed magic.

But where's the intelligence and the wit. Where's the scholarly lamentation over the current school system? (Oh, sure, the line was in there, but, like Isaac pointed out about the Aslan "not tame but good" line, it seemed in there only out of necessity - not as an extension of the character.)

And where is the Bergan-esque gruffness and impatience that mask a true fatherly fondness for the children.

Again, the movie made him too mysterious and magical, and in doing so, they missed out on the true "magic" of the character.

(On a side note, one of my favorite Peter moments of the book was left out at the end of the film. It's when, after telling the professor about their adventure in Narnia, Peter says the only reason he bothered to tell the professor in the first place was because he was worried about having lost the four coats.

That not only wonderfully characterizes an otherwise bland Peter, but it also furthers the disparity between Narnia time and "real" time. In Narnia, decades had gone by without even a thought for the coats, but minutes after they exit the wardrobe, they are foremost in his mind.)

Also, Peter should leave the stunts to the professionals.