C. S. Lewis's Narnia is a fantastical land of talking animals and mythical creatures. It is a land of magic and sorcery that has enchanted readers of all ages for 55 years.
Scholars have debated it and children have embraced it and now Disney has brought Narnia to glorious life in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Chronicles, as directed by Andrew Adamson, is definitely a hybrid of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films and, as such, is potentially too intense for preteens and especially for preschoolers.
The wolves are terrifying and the story's villain, the White Witch (Tilda Swinton), is more chilling than the wintry landscapes of the frozen Narnia.
The book is scary because it is about the battle between good and evil, but the movie is scarier because this conflict has been realized with graphic, eye-popping honesty.
When we first meet the four Pevensie children, they are being sent from London to the English countryside to escape the bombings of the Second World War.
When they step through the magical wardrobe, they enter a world also embroiled in a war.
The White Witch has usurped control, turning anyone who opposes her into statues. She is the Medusa of Narnia and Swinton is magnificent in all her finely etched and cleverly nuanced menace.
The only hope the creatures of Narnia have rests with Aslan, the lion (voiced by Liam Neeson) and four humans.
The prophecy says two female and two male humans will defeat evil and rule Narnia.
That Lewis chose to make the saviours children is a stroke of genius.
That Adamson found four incredibly talented youngsters to play the Pevensie siblings is equally remarkable. It took the cast of the Harry Potter films three movies to offer anywhere near the credibility and subtlety of these performances.
Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy, the youngest child, captures that combination of disbelief and wonderment that must accompany anyone who meets a faun or talking beaver.
The amazement on Henley's face and in her voice mirrors the amazement viewers will have when they experience the thrilling special effects in Chronicles.
The computerized lion, Aslan, is compellingly real from its shimmering mane and wise eyes to its mouth, which forms words as if the animal were really speaking them.
Aslan's crucifixion and resurrection are deeply moving and inspiring.
James McAvoy's performance as Mr. Tumnus, the faun, is heartwrenching and the special effects that give his lower body life are seamless.
The only creatures that don't work visually are Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. Ray Winstone and Dawn French provide true sparkle and some great humour with the voices, but they look more like Muppet creatures than beavers, especially when they appear beside the wolves, fox, Aslan and the centaurs.
Kudos to Adamson for winking at the fact the Pevensie children are wearing fur coats when they meet the animals of Narnia.
Peter Pevensie jokes he'll turn Mr. Beaver into a fur hat if the creature gets them into one more predicament.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an instant family classic destined to thrill, amaze, amuse and enthrall generations of viewers for decades to come.
(This film is rated PG)
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