Maybe it's just me, but when I was 12, the last thing I wanted with my bucket of buttered popcorn and overpriced Coke was a snack pack of religious allegory.

So attributing the success of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the support it received from the Christian right -- a la The Passion of the Christ -- seems misguided. Yes, all the symbolism of C.S. Lewis' classic fable is here. But then so is a talking lion. And the 12 year old in me thinks talking lions are pretty freaking cool.

As did, I'm sure, many filmgoers, old and young alike, who responded to the film -- moreso than they did to one starring a certain giant gorilla -- for its energy, stunningly-rendered visual effects and elemental storytelling.

Like Lord of the Rings, Narnia is a harrowing, emotional adventure about unlikely heroes swept up in a mythical battle of good and evil. And like that other literary blockbuster-turned-Hollywood-franchise Harry Potter, Narnia is a story in which children flee real-world adversity.

In this case, it's the Pevensie children -- Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (scene-stealer Georgie Henley) -- who end up in a country house during the Second World War while bombs pound London to dust. There, they uncover an old wardrobe that acts as an interdimensional portal to Narnia, a realm of warrior creatures and treacherous witches, which Lewis famously devoted seven books to. (No surprise to learn a sequel, The Caspian Prince, is in the works for a 2007 release.)

Once in Narnia, they encounter surprisingly verbal animals -- the standout of which is Aslan the lion (voiced by Liam Neeson) -- and breathtaking action directed by Andrew Adamson, who marks his first foray into live-action after directing the first two Shreks. Donkey would be proud.

EXTRAS: The two-disc special edition is understandably loaded with production documentaries, including the creation of Narnia's inhabitants.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

STARS: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy and Georgie Henley

DIRECTED BY: Andrew Adamson

IN BRIEF: Lavish big-budget adaptation of the C.S. Lewis literary classic.

RATING: 4 out of 5