Let's go ahead and enter the wardrobe...

I have just watched the movie and I cannot wait to read the book (Something to while away the time as I wait for the 7th installment of the Harry Potter series, heehee)! Little Lucy enters a wardrobe full of fur coats and next thins she knows, she's having tea with a half-human, half-goat Mr. Tumnus (who is actually goodlooking for a faun).

I have heard about The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe since I was a kid. Nobody has read it in our family, but my Mom has watched the stage play produced by Trumpets. I wonder what happened to their annual summer workshop where one of the higlights would be to stage The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I wish I have seen that play before since I feel like a kid all googly-eyed and excited to watch this movie in the big screen.

I remember asking Potching what he would do if he was in the place of Edmund and he told me with big, solemn eyes that he would never give in to the Jadis, the White Witch, even if all the Spiderman toys and chocolates will be given to him. And he asked me how could the White Witch be bad if she is beautiful? (Well, son, that's because she is a B*atch, heehee) Of course I explained that not all things beautiful are good and at his age, it might seem that all things pretty are God-given. And more often than not, it's these seemingly beautiful creatures that lead us into trouble, making us greedy and unrepentful in the process.

That White Witch can really be evil. Tilda Winton, who portrays her character, has an ethereal beauty yet her eyes can be...oh, I don't know...COLD? She as frosty as frosty can be and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Her performance, even in the trailers, are chilling (am I using to many allusions to winter? Cold, chilling, frosty...) and I can't put to words how, at 27-years old, I DO NOT want to meet her or anyone like her. Her character has no pattern at all, lashing out one second and then being oh-so-"caring" only to mock you. Her bitchiness amazes me. I know it sounds stupid but it doesn't mean I admire her or want to be like her. Payback, baby. But her bitchiness has it's own White Witch patent. She manipulates and can give you anything you want as long as you do her bidding and can tell an outright lie without twitching. But I personally loved the scene where she demanded to have a meeting with Aslan to discuss Edmund's punishment (him being a traitor and all and in Narnia, all traitors belong to the White Witch, which means, you are doomed). She came, carried on those majestic chairs reserved for royalty, announcing that she is the Queen of Narnia. She and Aslan talked inside Aslan's tent and after their bull-session, the White Witch came out, her expression unreadable while Aslan appeared sad and somber. We later find out that Aslan took Edmund's place on the Stone Table where he will be executed. The White Witch then proceeds to her majestic-slash-royal...chair and suddenlt turns around and demands "How will I be sure that you are going to keep your word?!?" (or something to that effect) and all Aslan does is roar and the White Witch unwittingly crumples and sits down, blown away by the display of power and magnificence.

"She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryands and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals—at least all the good ones—simply hate her."

This is the second time that a lion has dissolved me into tears. First, it's Mufasa and now Aslan. And the way Aslan died, stripped of his glory in the hands of (all together now) the White Witch. I really need to get the book to know the exact words used to explain why Aslan came back from the dead. Something about nullifying the death of an innocent blood when sacrificed for a traitor. Sniff...

And the battle between Aslan's army and the enemy, with the sweeping landscape...wow! I found it mirrored WWII with the birds (they were not birds obviously, they looked like a cross between owls and eagles. Aarggh! Somebody give me this book!) attacking first, dropping huge stones that seemed to explode. First line of defense if always Air Power.

It was, however, a big let-down when Aslan finally said, "It is finished" after pouncing on the White Witch. We see a glimpse of her, eyes wide and the battle is over. We see the 2 Sons of Adam and the 2 Daughters of Eve crowned as Kings and Queens and they grow up in Narnia only to emerge from the wardrobe again, as if time stood still.

The movie was fantastic but I have the feeling that once I read the book, this visual adaptation will pale. However, I still plan to see this movie on the big screen, tissues on hand again, of course. And then, hopefully, I'll be able to buy the book and once again, be taken to Narnia.