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'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' is a solid start for 'Narnia' series

From Alice pressing through the looking glass to Dorothy twisting into Oz, the great tradition of curious children landing in enchanted lands rife with fantastic creatures is long and hearty. And so: Here's little Lucy, face splashed in freckles, climbing into the tall, mysterious wardrobe during a blameless game of hide and seek with her siblings. We hope she brought her toothbrush.

Inside the big box, Lucy negotiates a thicket of fur coats, until she feels the poke of pine needles and the cold crunch of fresh snow. Realizing she's taken a short trip to somewhere faraway — the land of Narnia — she fairly twinkles with wonder.

Buena Vista Pictures 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' 3 out of 5 stars Director: Andrew Adamson Cast: Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, James Cosmo, Jim Broadbent, Elizabeth Hawthornetie Holmes, Cillian Murphy Run time: 132 minutes Release date: Dec. 9, 2005 Rating: PG for battle sequences and frightening moments. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Any other child would scream her bitty voice raw. But this is popular youth literature, C.S. Lewis' generationally beloved "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," so fears, when they come, are promptly soothed by magical means.

In the satisfactory film version — "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" — that magic is Hollywood magic, a massive, sometimes impressive onslaught of computer-animated beasts, calibrated terror and expertly choreographed mayhem.

The Witch (a frigidly commanding Tilda Swinton) is flesh and blood. The wardrobe appears to be solid wood, though it could probably use a new back board. The lion — well, his mother is a computer chip. (You'll thank the filmmakers for that when you see what dreadfulness befalls the mighty animal. Fie on that Witch!)

Carefully faithful to the 55-year-old-book — a slim tale that has charmed many kids, me included — the lavishly budgeted Disney production flaunts its wizardry without smothering the fable-y touch of the source. In fact, the technical bravura, which at times aspires to the violent clamor of "The Lord of the Rings" films, deepens and quickens the story, jolting it alive and putting meat on the book's spindly bones. The wolf Edmund first meets in the book, a "huge creature ... with all the hair bristling along its back," becomes a genuinely frightening agent of evil. And Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, lip-flapping fussbudgets, are delightful characters animated with superb computer artistry.

Once Lucy discovers Narnia (with help from sweet faun Mr. Tumnus, who has goat ears and horse hooves), she tells her brothers Edmund and Peter and sister Susan about it. But they have no faith — a prevailing theme here — and dismiss the child's story. Then Edmund, a willful brat, wiggles his way into Narnia, making a pact with Swinton's White Witch. (Swinton looks like she was dunked in bleach.) Having crowned herself Queen of Narnia, the icy hag has cast the land in perpetual winter and banished Christmas.

When all four children tumble into Narnia through the wardrobe, a long-held prophecy seems primed for revelation. The prophecy says that two human girls, or Daughters of Eve, and two human boys, Sons of Adam, will arrive to defeat the witch and return Narnia to a sunny, joyous kingdom ruled by the eldest human boy. First, a great battle must be fought. Aslan has returned to ensure success.

If ever there were a tale of blinding black and white, good and evil, this is it. A devout Christian and Anglican theologian, Lewis meant his story as a Christ allegory, in which the lion, Aslan, represents Jesus, who sacrifices his life so that humans can live, only to be gloriously resurrected. Biblical themes of faith, morality, redemption, prophecy and fate saturate the story.

Yet it's useful to know that the seven-book Narnia series delves deeper into Christian symbolism as it goes. Beyond Aslan as Christ and perhaps the traitorous Edmund as Judas, this episode presents a fairly lumpy allegory. Why would Jesus be a ferocious, prideful lion and not a lamb or shepherd? Why all the Minotaurs, griffins and centaurs from Greek and Roman mythology? It's no wonder most young readers can't detect the Christian subtext.

While not soft-pedaling the book's moral, the movie plays like a standard spectacle of big-bucks Hollywood secularism. Indulgent and too long by a full 20 minutes, it esteems magnificence over message, though both often mesh.

Created by the confectioners behind "Shrek," the filmed "Chronicles of Narnia" wants to be a fantasy-franchise juggernaut like "Lord of the Rings" and the Harry Potter films. But it lacks the depth and imagination of those richer, indeed hipper, series.

This prophecy just in: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" will bust the box office. Its successors will have a harder time of it.