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timepiececlock"Please sir, he's our brother."
"I know. That only makes the betrayal all the worse."
Now that right there? That just reminded me of something that really bugged me about the book, too. Way back in elementry school when I read it. Yes, Edmund is a whiny brat. But his only real mistake was to take candy from a stranger, if I recall. And Lucy herself took tea from a stranger. The witch is the first person Edmund meets in Narnia, and he's no more to be blamed for trusting her than Lucy is to be blamed for trusting the fawn. But does Lucy get badmouthed when the fawn betrayed her trust? No.
And after he eats the food the witch gives him, Edward's free will was pretty much gone, if I recall. And there's the fact that he is what, 11? 12 at the most? An 11 year old is not capable of the adult reasoning that ends with people being called traitors and then executed. Not when you're talking about war and death, which is a bit more overwhelming for a child than betraying who broke the downstairs window. If Lucy had been in his place and listened to the authority figure, the "adult" that was manipulating her and feeding her mind-controlling drugged food, I don't think they'd all turn around and call the 8 year old child a traitor. Edmund's not THAT much older.
Edit: Oh come on kid, don't put the sword back in the scabbard without cleaning it!
Edit2: Is he riding a unicorn? Oh that's hilarious. And stupid. But mostly hilarious.
Edit3: Is it wrong of me that I see the four adult versions of them horse-riding through the woods of Narnia and I think "Well, considering they're the ONLY humans in Narnia, at the age they're at right now... they're either bestiality deviants, incest deviants, or completely asexual..."
Final thoughts:
-Mr. Tumnus & Lucy win for the strongest and most moving scenes of the film.
-Tilda Swinson wins for looking coolest in her Witch costumes.
-Peter loses for being a bore
-the giant army cats win for being giant army cats
-the director loses for making a movie that sounds good in pieces but the whole is less than the sum of the parts, by quite a bit.
But it could have been worse, I suppose. And it might be argued as unfair to hold every epic fantasy film to the LOTR standards. Then again, why is that unfair? LOTR set the fucking standard, not just in size and scope, but in power and depth of storytelling for fantasy films. And yes, I am going to hold would-be epics like Narnia to the LOTR standard.
That's what standards are for.
"I know. That only makes the betrayal all the worse."
Now that right there? That just reminded me of something that really bugged me about the book, too. Way back in elementry school when I read it. Yes, Edmund is a whiny brat. But his only real mistake was to take candy from a stranger, if I recall. And Lucy herself took tea from a stranger. The witch is the first person Edmund meets in Narnia, and he's no more to be blamed for trusting her than Lucy is to be blamed for trusting the fawn. But does Lucy get badmouthed when the fawn betrayed her trust? No.
And after he eats the food the witch gives him, Edward's free will was pretty much gone, if I recall. And there's the fact that he is what, 11? 12 at the most? An 11 year old is not capable of the adult reasoning that ends with people being called traitors and then executed. Not when you're talking about war and death, which is a bit more overwhelming for a child than betraying who broke the downstairs window. If Lucy had been in his place and listened to the authority figure, the "adult" that was manipulating her and feeding her mind-controlling drugged food, I don't think they'd all turn around and call the 8 year old child a traitor. Edmund's not THAT much older.
Edit: Oh come on kid, don't put the sword back in the scabbard without cleaning it!
Edit2: Is he riding a unicorn? Oh that's hilarious. And stupid. But mostly hilarious.
Edit3: Is it wrong of me that I see the four adult versions of them horse-riding through the woods of Narnia and I think "Well, considering they're the ONLY humans in Narnia, at the age they're at right now... they're either bestiality deviants, incest deviants, or completely asexual..."
Final thoughts:
-Mr. Tumnus & Lucy win for the strongest and most moving scenes of the film.
-Tilda Swinson wins for looking coolest in her Witch costumes.
-Peter loses for being a bore
-the giant army cats win for being giant army cats
-the director loses for making a movie that sounds good in pieces but the whole is less than the sum of the parts, by quite a bit.
But it could have been worse, I suppose. And it might be argued as unfair to hold every epic fantasy film to the LOTR standards. Then again, why is that unfair? LOTR set the fucking standard, not just in size and scope, but in power and depth of storytelling for fantasy films. And yes, I am going to hold would-be epics like Narnia to the LOTR standard.
That's what standards are for.
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Date: 2006-07-28 12:42 pm (UTC)Yeah, LWW, there's a few times where the story falls subject to the allegory, and those are its weakest moments.
Another problem I had with the movie, and this ties into my "tried to make it too epic" criticism, is that they left out most of the "cute" moments, and "teaching" moments. The time where Peter messes up and reinserts his sword without cleaning it, and Aslan calls him on it? Not there. I wanted Aslan as a teacher, not as Gandalf.
I enjoyed the movie, and will likely watch it again. But it just makes me want to re-read the books and remember what they're actually like.
The Witch was fantastic. The kids (grown up) are totally asexual.
And Prince Caspian is supposed to come out in 2008! I'm hoping that it will be better.