If I read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” as a child, it didn’t stick with me and I didn’t read the other books in the series. I did pick up all seven books before the movie came out last week and finished the first book before I screened the film last Friday. I was very impressed how closely the film stayed to the book and that is exceptionally rare in book to film adaptations. In fact, I was slightly more impressed with this film than I was with the latest Harry Potter film, which I felt was very good.

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” follows the four Pevensie children as they escape into a magical realm, while staying at the home of an eccentric professor during the air raids in England during World War II. Lucy, the youngest, enters Narnia first, but soon all four “sons of Adam and daughters of Eve” have entered the land and a prophecy about their appearance, the re-emergence of Aslan, a lion and true ruler of Narnia, and the destruction of the White Witch’s spell of eternal winter, begins to come true.

Director Andrew Adamson does a marvelous job of introducing us to a family affected by the war, both in the real world and in Narnia and his cast of relative newcomers do a terrific job as the Pevensie children, particularly Georgie Henley as Lucy and Skandar Keynes as Edmund. Tilda Swinton also gives a dazzling turn as Jadis, the evil white witch. Narnia itself is a bewitching character, a sight to see in both its all encompassing winter and its full bloom of spring later in the film. Adamson also does well managing his CGI creations, which include an army of evil creatures to talking animals and the incredibly impressive Aslan, voiced by a very regal sounding Liam Neeson.

C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” are wonderful stories that are filled with the fantastic and also serve, in places, as religious allegory. It is all included in the film but is never overbearing. The film rather offers the good values that are central in most spiritual teachings and hopes that viewers, like Lewis’ legion of readers, ache to believe in the “deep magic” of Aslan and Narnia. After reading five of the novels and seeing the film, color me a believer.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is filled with action, drama, fantasy and suspense and the ending of the film gave me the same lump in my throat and stinging in my eyes that the book did. Kudos to all involved. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

****

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