If not for the success of Lord of the Rings trilogy, this movie would never been made. And I'm very thankful that this film was made because it starts another film franchise. There are rumors that the next film is slated for a Christmas 2007 release.

Well, what can I say about the movie? Yes, it lived up to the hype and is a very fun and magical piece of entartainment but still..this is not Lord of the Rings.

I know, it's unjust to compare the two because Narnia is more into kids than LOTR. But still, they have somethings in common. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien are best friends and both film were shot in New Zealand. (in the battle between Narnia and Kong at the box-office, New Zealand wins)

I have never read the book but after seeing this movie I want to read the series starting with "The Magician's Nephew" which is the series' prequel. I want to know more of the Wardrobe and Professor Kirke.

The main actors were fine but the best of all Pevensie children is Lucy and Edmund. Lucy can be the next Dakota Fanning. Edmund maybe has more screentime than Peter and Susan so maybe he stood out than his older brother and sister. Peter needs more maturity. Parang medyo malamya pa sya for the role. The White Witch played by Tilda Swinton (I first saw her in Constantine) is my favorite character in the movie. She kicks ass during the battle scene and her costume and make-up adds to her character. But the problem is that I don't find her as a purely evil witch. Maybe that's really the character..I don't know. There are some scenes na para syang mataray na beauty queen lang na mananabunot ng sinumang aagaw sa throne nya. Pero kahit ganun nabawi naman nya yun during the climactic battle.

Aslan the Lion is super believable. Galing ng special effects. But the other talking animals seems obviuosly fake at some point like the fox and wolves. Maybe they really nailed Aslan becuase he's the main animal there. The interactions between a real human and teh CG lion is flawless (even the riding scene with the lion) unlike in Kong where you can really tell that Naomi Watts is just in front of a CG character.

The sets are great but there are times that you see too much snow that your eyes already hurt. The first half of the Narnia scene is snow-filled. It's boring and dull as hell. Maybe that's the reason why Narnian's hate the 100-year winter. There's a minor annoyance on my part here. Halatan fake yung snow kasi hindi giniginaw yung mga actors on set tsaka walang cold breath (yung parang usok) na lumalabas sa bibig nila. Sana nilagyan na lang nila ng CG smoke.

Any Christians could easily see the allegories that existed throughout the movie particularly with the Christ-like figure in the character of Aslan (the lion). There's redemption, ressurection, treachery (Judas) etc. It kinda reminded me of watching 'The Passion of the Christ'. Parang it's another way of reminding us what Jesus did to save us...that he sacrificed himself to save mankind. Medyo napaluha tuloy ako sa part na yun.

Anyway...what about the battle scene? Well, all I can say is that Return of the King has still the best battle scene I've seen in along time. What I like about the battle scene here in Narnia is that is full of mythical creatures and animals. Halo-halo na ito. Pero the best part is when the music fades and the silence just before the two armies clash. Galing ng effect! Pero iba pa rin talaga sa LOTR. The battle in ROTK is still better and has more drama because you know what is at stake. But the battle in Narnia is shallow...kid-friendly (and as expected...bloodless). Sorry ha...I just can't help comparing the two movies.

I like the music as well. In fact, Golden lobe nominee na ang soundtrack nito. Harry Gregson-Williams now belongs to my list of favorite composers. I really like the children's theme. I was humming it at the end of the movie. In short, I want to have the soundtrack CD!

To sum it up, I love the movie. There's a lot of technical achievements in this film. It's well-paced and totally enjoyable. But (there's always a 'but')..there is still somethings that can be improved....maybe the storytelling. (Peter Jackson is still one of the greatest storytellers of our time) The Chronicles of Narnia doesn't possess the gravity that the LOTR movies have yet it still belongs as one of the best fantasy movies ever made.

RATING: 8.5/10
Note: There's an additional scene DURING the end credits. Watch out!

P.S. I have a feeling that I've just gotten out of the wardrobe after watching the movie because school problems start to flood my thoughts again. Back to reality....