Narnia!

So, I finally got to see The Chronicles of Narnia (or, as I like to say it, The Lion, the Witch, and the Place Where My Friend Refuses to Come Out From) this past weekend. My impressions?

It wasn't Lord of the Rings, but it was okay. It lacked the epic scope that the LOTR trilogy had; probably because the book itself was meant as a children's story. Not that children's stories can't be epic (see: Potter, Harry), but there's a certain feeling of trying to make sure that it doesn't scare the kids too much (seeing the cute cuddly furry beavers bite it would've caused a lot of nightmares).

A couple of random impressions (might be spoilers--oh, heck, everyone's read it):

* Tilda Swinton was perfect as Jadis, the White Witch. She had a cold beauty which was menacing, but still quite attractive. She had a great neckline and shoulders, very swanlike (the hair was pretty cool, too). Plus, she was badass towards the end. Anyone remember Tilda as Gabriel in the otherwise forgetful Constantine?
* Peter looks a lot like a young Heath Ledger. Oh, and Tumnus looks like Edward Norton.
* I've read a couple of opinions that the movie was laying on the religious imagery a bit thick, to the point that some folks were offended. Well, duh. Imagine the outcry from Narnia fans if the story was changed, just to be PC.
* That centaur (Peter's lieutenant) was pretty bad-ass too. Gotta have bad-asses. Unfortunately, Aslan himself wasn't as impressive as I would've thought.
* Some parts were missing--some reviews I've read are complaining about the length, but as one who preferred the EE versions of the LOTR trilogy I say: bring on the extra bits!

Overall, I'd give the movie a pretty solid B+, creeping into A- territory.