While I have now seen all three of The Chronicles of Narnia movies and enjoyed (not loved) them, it is now clear to me what is increasingly becoming the biggest irritation of the movie versions of C. S. Lewis' narratives, especially after the first movie The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Where is Aslan? Why is Aslan such a peripheral figure in the movies, especially Prince Caspian and now The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? For C. S. Lewis, Aslan is the center of focus throughout the The Chronicles of Narnia.
So I started looking around the internet to see if others felt like me about the Narnia movies. I guess I've missed this conversation. Some are quite happy to have Aslan take a back seat. Courtney Ferguson, a film critic for the Portland Mecury wrote an review entitled Aslan is a Prig. She writes, "Prince Caspian wages a war with his uncle to regain his throne. Here's where all Prince Caspian's battle sequences start going down, and here's also where Lucy starts getting all, "Where's Aslan? How come y'all can't see him? Where's your faith? I believe! What would Aslan do?" (To director Andrew Adamson's credit, he does away with much of the Aslan/Jesus business that plagued Wardrobe, and here gets straight to the savage battle scenes.)"
How do you go away from the "Aslan/Jesus business" and retell Lewis' story?
I also found this interesting critique that is worth a read from Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. The article entitled "Narnia Invaded" was written by Steven Boyer, Professor of Theology at Eastern University.
Have any of you wondered about this?
I have thought similar thoughts. Especially at the end of the Dawn Treader I started thinking, "Hmm... I wonder how the movie makers are trying to reconcile Lewis' provocative theology with the warm-fuzzy evangelical version that it is no doubt trying to market to?" (It turns out, I don't think they are; I think the evangelicals with the money get to call the shots on this one.)
What did you think about the scene when Aslan takes the dragon skin off of Eustace? It was pretty watered down in the movie, but in the book it is one of the most powerful images I have from my childhood. Eustace starts scratching and scratching, and each time he takes off his skin, he has another dragon skin underneath. But when Aslan tears him up (a good kind of pain) it all comes off and he is a boy again. Brilliant.
Posted by: Eric Sundquist | December 19, 2010 at 05:13 PM
Hey Eric,
The scene with Eustace turning back into a boy is definitely more powerful as written by Lewis than the way it was portrayed in the movie.
Posted by: Mike | December 20, 2010 at 05:57 PM