CS Lewis certainly had one heck of an imagination and it is rarely better exemplified than in this lovely fantasy adventure. Four wartime siblings are evacuated from London to stay with the reclusive "Professor Kirke" (Jim Broadbent) in the relative safety of the English countryside. Once they get there, the housekeeper "Mrs. Macready" (Elizabeth Hawthorne) makes it quite clear that they are to be seen and not heard! Boredom sets in and thus a game of hide and seek seems sensible. "Lucy" takes refuge in an old wardrobe - a wardrobe that has a secret! Much to her astonishment, she finds herself in a snowy land with a single streetlamp and there meets "Mr. Tumnus" (James McAvoy) - a scarf-clad faun. She returns to her brothers and sister and after some convincing, they join her in the wardrobe and all discover the delights and dangers of "Narnia" meeting loads of new friends and a couple of not so nice wolves, too! This is the first of the adventures of the "Pevensie" children in this mysterious land where animals can talk and winter is perpetual under the control of the villainous "White Witch" (Tilda Swinton). They align with "Aslan" the all powerful lion (voiced by Liam Neeson) and have a battle royal to free the kingdom from her icy grip. The CGI isn't, to be honest, great. Indeed, some of the effects are a bit cheap and cheerful for 2005; but the story, settings and characterisations are great - as is Harry Gregson-Williams' eerie and gentle score.
