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# Faithful ‘Narnia’ suits all
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/faithful-narnia-suits-all/
- Published: 2005-12-09T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:16:53.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Most adults are aware that the C.S. Lewis novel upon which this mega-budgeted film is based is an allegory for the Christ story, and much ado has been made about the studio’s (Disney) overt courtship of Evangelical Christians, ala the campaign that accompanied Mel Gibson’s controversial “The Passion of the Christ.” One of “Narnia’s” well-known financiers, billionaire Phil Anschutz, is a major Bush backer and outspoken proponent of so-called “traditional family values” in entertainment, so the film’s release has been preceded in some camps (heathens and/or those who aren’t quite Rapture Ready, for instance) by questions of intent and the nagging concern that certain heavy-handed ideologies might adversely impact the finished product. Oh, and I almost forgot, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah … Everyone relax, please, for this “Narnia” adaptation isn’t the ticking time bomb some have made it out to be. Rather, it’s a classic morality fable filled with the eye-popping stuff of childhood fantasies that is likely to satisfy the saints and the sinners. Director Andrew Adamson (co-director of both “Shrek” movies) and his team have scored a stunning technical achievement with a narrative that remains true to the source material: During the Blitz in WWII, four young siblings are whisked away from London to the countryside estate of a wise old professor (Jim Broadbent). There they discover a portal to a magical land called Narnia, where they’ll become the central figures in a battle between the forces of good and evil. The acting is solid; the stand-out performance delivered by Tilda Swinton as the White Witch. In a refreshing digression from the current trend in youth-oriented fare, the Pevensie kids aren’t imbued with any modish proclivities of today’s “extreme” generation. Their language, behavior and overall comportment indicative of the bygone era during which the story is set.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/120905-17_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 9, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/120905.pdf?ref=smdp.com)