The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Shrek director Andrew Adamson makes his first foray into live action films (sort of) with his screen adaptation of the second book in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series—and spends much of the time looking over his shoulder at Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The parallels between the two stories are unmistakable with good reason: Lewis and Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien were close friends who routinely critiqued each others' work and debated theology and philosophy ad nauseam from their respective points of view (Tolkien was a devout Catholic, Lewis a born-again Christian). While the settings and basic religious message are vaguely similar in both stories, the delivery is distinctly different: Lewis' stories are more overtly biblical and clearly intended for children, whereas Tolkien's Rings novels have much more sophisticated symbolism aimed at teenagers and adults.
Ironically, the relationship between the film versions of these stories is somewhat similar: Adamson and Jackson, both from New Zealand, are friends as well, and the success of Jackson's trilogy led directly to a green light for Narnia. While watching Narnia, however, you get the feeling Adamson is very conscious of trying not to let his work look too much like Jackson's films—the colors are brighter, the mood lighter—but the similarity in themes and fantasy worlds and makes the comparisons, fair or not, unavoidable.
The few liberties Adamson takes with the novel actually work quite well, especially the extended battle sequence that features clever mimicry of the German bombings on London and other WWII battles. As for the Oscar-nominated visual effects, they frankly aren't that impressive and not even in the same league as the un-nominated effects in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Almost never do the talking animals look real, but they're serviceable enough to overcome the fear of implausibility that kept Lewis from ever approving live-action versions of his stories.
Ultimately, it's the performances that make or break Narnia. Tilda Swinton is simply marvelous as the evil White Witch: cold, cunning and manipulative without being over the top. On the other hand, the actors portraying the two male Pevensie children leave something to be desired, as opposed to their female counterparts, who feel much more assured of their characters' place in the story. William Moseley lacks gravitas as Peter, the family patriarch in the absence of their father, while Skandar Keynes seems confused by Edmond's selfish duplicity, which puts his family in jeopardy.