On the way to the theater this morning, Ang and I drove along I-25s
recently snowpacked roads. It was a bit of a pain, and I was annoyed
at the accidents that stalled traffic, but it was worth it when we got
to Denver, got off on University Ave. and had a couple of miles of
flocked trees lining the parkway. It was quite possibly the perfect
way to prep for seeing the movie, driving down the snow quieted
streets listening to some quiet Christmas music.
Ang and I just got out of the preview screening we had an invitation
to this morning. First things first, it's not the Lord of the Rings
and I never really felt that it was trying to be Lord of the Rings.
There's a certain lightness and choice of color that doesn't exhibit
itself in the three Rings' movies. I'm not saying that as a good or a
bad thing, mostly just a creative choice. LotR is deadly serious. The
other day, I was in the Aintitcoolnews chat room and Moriarty was
crabbing about the fact that it was the "passion of the lion king" and
that the children were wooden. I didn't get that.
I'm mostly trying to get a grasp on the movie. We just walked out of
the theater and there was an Apple Store, so we figured we'd get a few
lines in before we headed off for other activities. She's blogging
from a 20" iMac I'm lusting after, and I'm blogging and e-mailing from
the 23" cinema display hooked up to a Powerbook that I'm lusting
after. Man I love the Apple Store.
Effects wise, there are a few areas where you can't quite buy the
illusion of the talking animals, but they're only moments. I was also
pleasently surprised with the battle scene. I was fearing that it
would be a rehash of Helms Deep or any of the major hour long Rings
battles but while there are some elements that are similar (can there
not be when it's thousands of CGI creatures combatting one another?)
it's different enough and spread out enough that as it started I was
thinking about it as it pertained to its own story and not to the
stories that are related.
Andrew Adamson has shed the burden of Shrek. I'm happy, very happy, to
say that the movie is maybe not great, but certainly good. It will do
very, very well.
There's no "poor old lu", but that's alright.
More thoughts when I get home.
B
3 comments:
WETA, ILM, SONY Imageworks, and Rhythm and Hues all worked together on the VFX. They also used Massive for the battle scenes (used in LOTR). I'm anxious to see it as our pastor (www.reunionchurch.net) is doing a whole series on Narnia and (since we meet at a movie theater) we will actually get to watch it as part of our Sunday morning service on the 11th. Big question, does having C.S.Lewis' stepson on hand keep the story true to it's original intent and purpose?
I am really excited about seeing this...thanks for the review!
The step son was on the Micheal Medved show this week and he seems like a decent guy. I did not get the since that he is milking this or piggybacking on family fame. He appeared to me only interested in making sure the public understands CSL.
Thanks for the update Brian. Very cool to use the Apple Store as a remote location. I could spend a lot of money in there.
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