Thursday, December 29, 2005

Today, I went out with the gang to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was pretty well done, and so I decided to do a movie review on it. For every movie that I watch in the future, I shall do a review on it. Besides, it would come in handy when I have to pass up work for GP. :P

Now, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (which shall hereby be known as Narnia) is set in the period of time known as World War 2. It is about 4 kids who were sent to the house of a professor for their own safety, and stumbled through a wardrobe to enter the magical land of Narnia. Their coming has been prophesied to save the world of Narnia from the iron rule of the White Witch, and to herald the coming again of the previous King of Narnia, the Lion Aslan.

Visual effects (aka eye candy) 8/10: I’ve read somewhere that the movie had a budget of about 150 million, and it shows in the brilliant scenery and CGI creatures that you see. Everything, from the first time we glazed upon the land of Narnia, to the time when the movie closes, is downright beautiful. Not that I expected less from the works of Industrial Lights and Magic, the same company that came up with the graphics of the Star Wars series (hey, it was started by Lucas, alright? Of course he would use his own company to make his own film). However, there were some parts that didn’t look quite up to par as the rest of the movie…Maybe they ran out of budget? In any case, there is enough eye-candy here to please even the nerdiest person watching.

Sound 6/10: A grand movie like this would have a memorable and powerful score to go with it, won’t you think? Not so. The background music played in most scenes didn’t stay with me, and…well, that’s that. Even though I’ve just stepped out of the cinema not too long ago, I can’t remember the songs that they played. Compare this with the songs that the Lord of The Rings had. Now that is a fine example of a memorable score. I was humming the Breaking of The Fellowship for days after watching the Fellowship of The Ring. Narnia just doesn’t stand up to par in this area.

General 9/10: I thought that it was directed pretty well. The pacing is just fine, though my friends told me that it was dull in some parts, but I didn’t think so. The acting was quite well done, producing certain memorable characters like Lucy. The few gags it had in it were also sophisticated enough for my taste, consisting of small puns and smart talk. Take this for example:

Mrs Beaver: You could have given me five minutes to get ready.
Mr Beaver: I won’t have given you a week if I thought that it would help.

lol That really made my day.

They had the whole range of fantasy creatures, such as satyrs ( I think they are tree creatures), centaurs (lower body of a horse, body of a man. Can’t miss them), fauns (remember the demigod Pan? This is his race), goblins (Orcs. Enough said), giants (looks more like humans made really big using the technology to make hobbits small in LoTR). But no elves. Get that: No elves. And the cyclopses look as if they were missing of growth hormones. According to legend, they are supposed to be as big as giants (just read Jason and the Argonauts). Well, they are real small here.

Altogether now 8/10: This is a movie fit for the whole family. Gather up everyone and get your tickets now.

Okay, the official review is now over. Now for my thoughts on the movie. You can read it if you want to, or just leave the site. I don’t really care. But if you do decide to read on, do note that there will be spoilers. So if you don’t want your story spoiled, I would strongly suggest you to leave now. :P

As you all may know, C.S. Lewis, who was a Christian apologist, wrote Narnia, and it shows in the movie. There are many Christian elements that you can find, for those of you who are sharp enough. For example, the Lion King Simb…Aslan gave his life to save that of the traitor (well, technically) Edmund aka Jesus style. Meaning a pure, innocent life (Jesus/Aslan) was given to redeem that of one who doesn’t deserve it (Man/Edmund) Oh, Edmund also plays the role of Judas (hence the traitor name) by betraying the location of his family to the White Witch, who I think plays the role of the Devil. I mean, she tempted Edmund with sweets (Snake, Fruit, and Eve, anyone?) and turned him to the Dark Side for a little while. And oh, did I tell you that Aslan came back again? Yeah, he did too, also aka Jesus style. There are many others that I would point out, but where’s the fun in that? Go look for it yourself. Here’s a hint: read up on the crucification of Christ.

And now, on the battle tactics used by the forces of the Free Animals of Narnia. I only have one question: What idiot planned the battle for the good guys??? That’s probably the worse battle plan I’ve ever seen. Yeah, I know that battle plans usually goes to hell the moment the first arrow is fired and the first sword drawn, but a plan is all you have when you are outman-ed, outgunned, and outmaneuvered.

First, let us take a look at the terrain. The forces of Aslan had their backs against a cliff with a ravine. The forces of the White Witch has her army on the open plain. Consider the map below (which is not drawn to scale):

--------------------------- )
Good guys ----------------)
--------------------archers )
----------------------------)
--------------------------//
------------------------//
********************* Whole collection

********************* of mounted forces ........................................Bad guys
-----------------------\\
-------------------------\---------------------------)
-------------------archers )
---------------------------)
---------------------------)

If you know anything about medieval tactics, you should be able to tell that the good guys have an overwhelming tactical advantage. All they have to do is hold out in the ravine and have their archers rain arrows down on the baddies as they try to force their way in. But no.

Another point…With archers stationed up on the cliffs, their range should be a lot further. They are also centaurs archers, so their range should be further than that of a humans, so they should be able to hit the forces of the White Witch before they can reach their mounted troops. But no – All they do is stand there and pose. Although I admit that the griffins dropping rocks on the enemy forces is a nice touch. And the use of griffins for airborne recon missions isn’t something to be dismissed lightly…At least someone there knows something about his battles.

Another point: You do not fight with the enemy on the open field unless you a) have superiority in numbers b) have someone coming up on them in a ‘hammer and an anvil’ move and c) suicidal. If I were Peter, the guy leading the army, I would have let the archers and the griffins take down whatever they can before charging. But no, all Peter did was let the griffins do their run, and charge. Though he did attack in a wedge formation – arguably the best attacking formation for mounted shock troops. But remember, he’s outnumbered.

Okay, after fighting in the open with inferior numbers, Peter suddenly found himself on the losing side, and so-called for a tactical retreat. And while we are happily running back to the ravine, enemy archers appeared on the cliffs and started shooting at them. What happened to the archers up there in the first place? And how on earth did the White Witch manage to get those archers up there? Stranger and stranger.

Well, I could go on on this all day long, but this post is already more than a 1000 words long, and I do not wish to bore you with all the details about the epic battle at the end. If you wish to discuss with me about the tactics use in the battle, I would be more than welcome. You know where to find me.

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