Can it really match up to the wonder of the BBC classic? Yes, and then some!
The new Narnia is incredible. It looks great (besides one dodgy blue screen moment) and for those of us who have escapist tendancies, it carries all the mystery you could ever wish for.
The theological under-currents remain and in case you miss them rejesus should help. But to be honest, I don't think the church should be talking about this film too much. Why? To quote Polly Toynbee in Monday's Guardian,
"...here in Narnia is the perfect Republican, muscular Christianity for America - that warped, distorted neo-fascist strain that thinks might is proof of right. I once heard the famous preacher Norman Vincent Peale in New York expound a sermon that reassured his wealthy congregation that they were made rich by God because they deserved it. The godly will reap earthly reward because God is on the side of the strong. This appears to be CS Lewis's view, too. In the battle at the end of the film, visually a great epic treat, the child crusaders are crowned kings and queens for no particular reason. Intellectually, the poor do not inherit Lewis's earth."
A really great film but I suspect this isn't the PR gift the church thinks it is!
What do you think of this other statement by Toynbee in the same review?
Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls.
Posted by: John | December 12, 2005 at 03:01 PM