Sweet Trouble

Rants, raves, book reviews and one girl's thoughts on life, the universe and everything.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

From the far away land of War Drobe

In the culmination of almost thirty years of fandom, I along with millions of others, went to go see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Something very surprising happened in the darkened room where I sat. I saw a glimpse of a land far, far away and it had nothing to do with George Lucas, or John William's sweeping scores. What I saw left me stunned and breathless, and my movie hadn't even begun! It was the trailer for the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew they were making a movie of my all time favourite children's books, and I dreaded it. I'd heard Disney bought the rights and though I love the company, I hated the thought of them trying and failing to make a good movie. If you've seen the old BBC version of the series, you'll know why I didn't think it was possible to do things well. Even after seeing Lord of the Rings, I didn't really think a quality live action version was possible, and an animated one would be a travesty. Then there were the deep religious overtones imbedded in the story: surely they wouldn't make it past Hollywoodization.

I have never been so wrong about a film. Not only have they made the movie, but it appears that they have made ONE HECK OF A BEAUTIFULL, FREAKING AWESOME movie! I sat in that dark theatre this morning, thinking not one thought about Star Wars. My jaw was hanging open and my eyes teared up to the point that tears were streaming down my face... in a happy sort of way. Man, if that's how all of the Tolkein freaks felt when they saw the Peter Jackson's movies well, WOW!

I did enjoy Star Wars. In fact, it was wonderfull. Once the Fox drumroll began I was able to remember why I was there. The green Lucasfilm log induced a shiver from me as always. My breath caught at the opening fanfare of the title sequence and I was transported to that glaaxy far, far, away one last time. In fact the emotions raised for Narnia carried over into the movie and left me teary at unexpected moments and boo-hooing by the end of the film. I'm sorry the saga over, in someways it seemed like, with the closing credits, that I left my childhood behind at last. A bittersweet farewell.

Even with such melancholy ruminations, I can't help but think: Boy, is it going to be fun stepping through the Wardrobe this fall.

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