The Chronicles of Narnia

Packed off to the countryside during WWII to avoid the horror of the Blitz, four young Londoners - Lucy (Henley), Susan (Popplewell), Edmund (Keynes) and Peter (Mosley) - wind up in a house owned by an old professor. During a game of hide-and-seek, the inquisitive Lucy stumbles upon an unused room that contains a huge wardrobe. Inside, Lucy finds a portal that transports her to another land - the land of Narnia. When her siblings don't believe her, they are forced to follow her into the wardrobe in search of Edmund, who wandered off on his own and is captured by the evil Ice Queen (Swinton). Once in Narnia, the children are told they are part of a prophecy that will herald the downfall of the queen's rule and end Narnia's plight of perpetual winter. With the odds against them, and alone in this strange land, it is left to Aslan (Neeson) - a legendary lion - to protect them in this crazy world. Adapting the first of the seven-book series by C.S Lewis was always going to throw up a few problems as to leaving sub-plots open for a sequel, but Shrek director Adamson does a remarkable job in bringing Lewis' vision alive, creating a world that bears favourable comparisons with Middle Earth. The film looks beautiful; the winter-ridden Narnia looks like the perfect wonderland and this is juxtaposed nicely when the ice melts, making way for an explosion of colour. Where Adamson is let down is the acting as William Mosley, in the pivotal role, comes across like the know-it-all wooden Julian from The Famous Five (and no one liked Julian). The pacing is a little erratic as the plot loses momentum when it should move into third gear, and the ending is wrapped all too quickly. That said, Narnia will keep pulses racing until the end. Roll on the sequel.