The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The first British reviews of Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are the kind movie ads are made of. Consider Peter Bradshaw's five-star review in the Guardian, which includes these opening comments: The result is a triumph. It is gorgeous to look at, superbly cast, wittily directed and funny and exciting by turns. It unfolds the slim book into a rich visual experience that is bold and spectacular and sweeping, while retaining its human intimacies. I can't see how it could be done better. Under the heading A Winter Wonderland, David Edwards comments in the London Daily Mirror: Boasting astonishing special effects, great performances from the cast and the wickedest witch of all time, films don't get much better than this. Sukhdev Sandhu's review in the Daily Telegraph, which includes the observation that this must be the first Hollywood picture in ages to feature baddies -- wolves, in fact -- who speak with American accents, is much more restrained, but it concludes this way: Look at it too closely and it tends to fall down. But the same could be said for the first couple of Harry Potter films, and that series has improved hugely over time. This is a worthy opening salvo. The first reviews in the U.S. have also begun trickling in. They are not nearly so passionately enthusiastic as the British ones, but most are quite positive. Writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times: What's best about it is that it seems real by the logic of childhood -- it looks as things should look, if kids had it their way.

every bit as disastrous as legend...this maned jesus is embedded in a tedious story and weighed with low aesthetics that fail to resurrect.