Am I the only one who thought Narnia sucked?

[cynatnite]

It could have been a much better movie given the interesting characters at the beginning, but it turned out flat, predictable and boring. It's connection to the bible was way too obvious and the very clean, happily ever after type of scenario was lame in the extreme.

Not only that...hubby and I were put off that this movie was marketed as a family type movie, but the battle scenes were as violent as LOTR.

This movie was truly awful. I don't get why it made so much money. Do fundies have that much weight at the box office?

[Atman]

1. Fundies LOVE violence and killing stuff

Especially if you're doin' fer the lord.

Just don't show none o' them titties!

[WindRavenX]

2. I disagree 100% with you

Although C.S. Lewis' Biblical allusions are heavily embedded in the text, I thought they did a great job of making a movie from the text. Also, to me, it's not fair to compare Tolkein to Lewis-- both are fantasy, but have completely different styles. As such, I thought the movie did a great job of capturing Lewis' "fable" style story telling.
But that's just my opinion.

[cynatnite]

4. I wasn't comparing the authors

I compared the battle scenes in the movies. In all other ways, LOTR is ten times better than Narnia.

[LostinVA]

8. But The Chronicles were very much a children's series, whereas

LOTR was an adult series. BTW... Lewis and Tolkien were very, very close friends. Tolkien actually converted Lewis from atheism to Christianity...

[WindRavenX]

9. true

And the battle scenes in the book are much shorter. So the drawn out battles in the movie was pure Hollywood, and I can't say I cared much for that. But Narnia shouldn't be seen as a fundie movie--I, an atheist, love the stories and the movies. It's unfortunate the fundies have taken this as gospel, but this didn't ruin the movie for me or my boyfriend who ADORES the movie and books :)

[cynatnite]

12. No, I don't think it's a fundie type movie...

I agree they've latched onto it in that way.

[WindRavenX]

13. At one point, churches were renting out entire theaters to show it...

...to their members. It was rather insane.

[LostinVA]

15. But that doesn't make it a Fundie movie, like "The Passion"

If anything Lewis' message is very anti-Fundie.

[WindRavenX]

19. oh I agree

But the idiots who thought this movie was gospel felt compelled to market it as religious gospel. It was unfortunate, and I feel like many people will be turned off from this incredible series.

[LostinVA]

32. Sorry! I understand!

[LostinVA]

14. The battles scenes were worse in the book, imo

Especially Edmund's near-death. And Aslan's deathg.

[LostinVA]

7. It brought Narnia alive for me... I was transfixed, as was my SO

We grew up loving those books... and the filmmakers did such a magical job making Narnia REAL... after 30+ years of reading the books! We were just... wow!

Tilda Swinton should have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nom, in my opinion.

Next: Prince Caspian... and Reepicheep!



PS Not a Fundie movie -- Lewis was Anglo-Catholic, and quite liberal for his time and place.

[WindRavenX]

10. yup

My SO is also non-religious like me, and loved the movie. It's great storytelling and NOT gospel. It's unfortunate that so many religious individuals have seen the movie and think it's meant to convert people. It's not.

[LostinVA]

16. Neither my SO or I are Christians, although I was raised Catholic

And I agree with you... I find the books stories of love, tolerance, and integrity... very moral, in teh real sense.

[cynatnite]

11. I haven't read the books

I have no doubt they're good given what I've heard, but in no way was I using the books as a frame of reference.

I'm speaking to the movie alone. I thought it was bad as far as character and plot. Special effects were very enjoyable.

Either way, I think it could have been far better.

[Mythsaje]

3. It's not just about the fundies...

A lot of us grew up with Narnia and have fond memories of the book. I havne't seen the movie, and it's been years since I read the books. but they were classics in their own right...not all that different from LOTR in their own way.

Besides, what's one man's meat is another's poison. There's no telling if I'd like the movie or not. I guess I'll find out once it hits cable.

[mondo joe]

5. It struck my family as quite boring, with no real "catch", if you will.

Faithful but no spark.

[stepnw1f]

6. Corny is a Fundie Trait

Hence the term, "Square".

[mr blur]

17. No, leaving aside the laughable "message",

as a film it really sucked. Boring, flat, twee, undynamic... and the kids were awful and the lion was just... tedious.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. Um...if you've read the book, wouldn't you already know the story...

Therefore, predictable? :shrug:
duckie

[cynatnite]

20. Haven't read the book

:)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

23. Oh...OK...

I just thought it'd be funny to say that anyway. :hi:

[Inland]

21. Yeah, it sucked. It sucked bad.

It was childish.

[WindRavenX]

24. Well, yeah it was

Because Lewis wrote for young adults and the film was adapted as such. It's a fairy tale.

[TK421]

22. I thought it was a well-made movie, and I enjoyed it for the most part,

however, it REALLY dragged along at times and at certain points, I was wishing that I could get up and leave to get something to eat ( which is something I never do at theaters, since their food is overpriced ).

[Lexingtonian]

25. I thought Tilda Swinton was the best thing about it

along with the faun. But yes, poor imitation and corny and cliche-ridden and overly Victorian and Empire Anglophile is the fundie way. The happy days of The White (Christian) Man's Burden and his oh so British empire.

I thought it didn't even work as a fundie movie, the blatantly obviously Christian hero figures were so accurately and well done that they just screamed out how the strict orthodoxy devoided them of spirit and soulfulness. (Not that that would distinguish it from other pop Christian art for me. To the contrary.) I left the theater thinking that it was done so deliberately orthodox that it achieved satire of the "message".

[cynatnite]

29. I thought she was great, too

Awesome little actress.

The movie started out good for me...it just went bad the further it got along.

[LostinVA]

33. It wasn't a Fundie movie, or had a Fundie message

Lewis loathed Evangelicals, and was quite Anglo-Catholic. Lewis' messages is actually the antithesis of Fundamentalism.

TLTWATW was written as a Christian allegory for children. Just because something is Christian, does not make it Fundie, or means there's anything wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with CHrisytianity... just with some of the people who "practice" it.

AS you can see, I am NOT Christian, and haven't been since my late teens.

[nemo137]

26. It wasn't excessively fundie, it was just kind of generically crappy.

It wasn't my Narnia, though. It wasn't the books my dad read with me when I was little, and so I was a bit disappointed. Liam Neeson as the voice of God makes perfect sense to me, though.

[CatWoman]

27. I loved it

:shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4999403

[LostinVA]

34. Me too

[SoCalDem]

28. MAJOR SUCKAGE of the nth magnitude

:puke:

gratuitous violence and a big bore

[XemaSab]

30. Having grown up really liking the book

I thought the movie just wasn't very good.

It wasn't very faithful to the book, but nevertheless it dragged a bit.

Also, some parts, like the scene at the stone table, went too much for visual effects when the scene would have been much better with a little less shown. :shrug:

On edit:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=279x1900

[Richard Steele]

31. I really enjoyed those books, but the movie was a waste of 2 hours.

It was a very "blah", by-the-numbers film...
none of the actors were particularly engaging,
and the entire thing just left me cold.

It wasn't so much a film as a group of people
GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS of a film.

[Southsideirish]

35. Totally sucked and I am a movie nut. In terms of "enjoyability" and not

orthodoxy, in terms of adhering to the text, etc. it was a friggin', predictable bore.