The Chronicles of Narnia Trilogy Review.

Here is The Chronicles of Narnia Movie Trilogy Review by guest author Shena Tokala at Pens, Thespians, and Words. 

The Chronicles of Narnia is my fourth favorite fictional universe of all time(following Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter) and I've loved the books ever since I was six and my dad read them to my sister and I. When I heard they were being made into films, I remember getting really excited and looking forward to the release of the first, which was “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”(which is the most popular book in the series). For those who don't know, The Chronicles of Narnia is about a fictional world which was created by the lion Aslan. The series follows the adventures that people from our world and the people from Narnia have in this fantastical land. I would definitely recommend the movies and books for fantasy fans or for those who just like a well done story.

You won't be disappointed. :)

“The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” follows the story of the four Pevensie children whose names are Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy who are sent to a house in the country to escape the Blitz during World War II. While exploring the house, Lucy finds a wardrobe and decides to enter it. When she does, instead of finding the back of the closet, she walks into a wintery forest where she meets a Faun named Mr. Tumnus who tells her about the land she is in, called Narnia, and the wicked White Witch who rules with an iron fist. When Lucy goes back to our world and tells her siblings about what she found, they don't believe her. Eventually, the four children all go through the wardrobe and find themselves caught in the war between the good and evil and somehow tied to it all by a prophecy.

The first Narnia movie is really good and follows the book pretty much to the letter. There are, of course, some differences, but it felt quite similar. The actors do a fantastic job on their roles and each embodied the character they portrayed perfectly which was nice since they were actually quite young when they filmed this movie(especially Georgie Henley who played Lucy). The plot is also great and has a very exciting story line and really cool action scenes. The only thing I didn't really like was that Susan didn't fight in the battle(Lucy I can understand since she was so little) but beyond that, I loved the film. While not my favorite Narnia film(probably because I watched it too many times when I was younger) I still really love it and I would definitely recommend watching it. This is also the movie to start with if you are wanting to watch the films without reading the books first; that way it will make more since :).

“Prince Caspian” is probably my favorite Narnia film. While I didn't like the book as much as the rest of the books in the series, the movie was very exciting and the characters are even better than they were the first time around. The actors were astounding in this film, especially William Moseley(Peter), Skandar Keynes(Edmund), Anna Popplewell(Susan), and Ben Barnes(Caspian).

The film starts off with the four Pevensie kids waiting to get onto a train to take them to school but instead find themselves transported to a beach in Narnia. They soon find out that it's been over a hundred years in Narnia since they left and that an army of conquerors has taken over Narnia and sent the remaining Narnians into hiding. Joining up with on-the-run Prince Caspian, the Pevensie children begin the near-impossible task of freeing the land of Narnia from its ruthless invaders.

Even though Caspian was way older than he should have been, I can see why they did that(they wanted him to be closer in age to the four Pevensie children). Besides, I thought he did a really good job on the part so I'm not complaining :). The action sequences in this film are EPIC! I remember when I first saw it in theaters I saw on the edge of my seat thinking 'This is SO COOL!' I especially loved the part with the trees XD. I was also very excited to see Susan fighting; in fact, this film made me actually really like her character since I never liked her when reading the books. I also loved Edmund and his flashlight during the beginning of the raid. I just want to say that Edmund, who was a really well done character in the film before, was epic in this movie! I loved how he's changed and matured since the events of the last film. He is still slightly the same, but you can tell that he's learned his lesson and grown from a mean spirited little boy into a mature, brave young man.

The movie also had good emotion in it, especially when they had to leave some of the army behind during the raid on the castle :(. Though the film is sad in many parts, isn't always so. It actually has a good amount of humor in it too :D.

There are only two things I didn't like in the film. One was the romance(and kiss) between Susan and Caspian. It was really unnecessary for the film and it didn't happen at all in the book(romance just doesn't work in the Narnia films). I'm only all right with romance if it's done well enough but since it wasn't done well here, I didn't like it at all(especially since it surprised me the first time I watched it). I also thought Lucy was kind of annoying in this film which made me kind of sad since she used to be my favorite character back when I read the books.

I really enjoyed “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” even though it differed quite a lot from the book(which had been a favorite of mine in the series). The actors are even better in this film, though sadly Peter and Susan only make an appearance in a wish made by Lucy. Will Poulter who played the Pevensie's cousin Eustace was pitch perfect(he was just like I imagined him in the book)! He handled the character exceptionally well and made the change from annoying coward to hero look effortless; I really can't wait to see more of this actor :).

The film begins in WWII England where Edmund Pevensie and his sister Lucy Pevensie are forced to stay with their Aunt, Uncle and Cousin Eustace who are all pains. The adventure begins when Lucy notices that a picture in an upstairs room is moving and she, along with Edmund and Eustace, are pulled into Narnia. They end up being taken aboard the Dawn Treader, a Narnian ship, lead by non other than Prince Caspian himself, who came into the story during the last movie. The Dawn Treader, Caspian tells them, is sailing off into uncharted waters to find seven lost lords whom Caspian's uncle had chased off after the death of Caspian's father. What follows is a sea adventure filled with strange islands, dangerous monsters, and an evil that is steadily growing and can only be destroyed at its heart. The characters, I was glad to see, each went through a change and learned something, most especially their cousin Eustace. The story, while wandering off from the book's original storyline, was well done and quite chilling, especially with the green mist. Even though there wasn't any large scale battles like in the last film, the fighting that does happen is intense and exciting(especially because Lucy fights!) Another thing I enjoyed as the relationship that built between Edmund and Caspian and when Caspian told Edmund he saw him like a brother I couldn't help but smile since brother-like relationships have always been a favorite of mine and this one was handled well.

The only problem I had with the film was the pacing but that had to do with the branching off from the from the book so it's all right(though I do wish they had followed the book a little more closely). But the film was done well enough and since the actors were go good, I can handle it :).

I really hope they make movies out of the rest of the books and when they do, I'll definitely be going to see it :D. I'm really looking forward to seeing “The Magician's Nephew” and “The Silver Chair” since those are two of my favorites :)

Thank you for reading and thank you to James for having me on here :)

May the Force be with you..Always.

Jedi Shena Tokala out