My Dad's a clergyman - Episcopalian (retired) and has the entire collection of the works of C.S. Lewis, including The Chronicles of Narnia, the Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, etc. etc. C.S. Lewis was - to our Dad - a Christian writer first and foremost, and I was less interesting in reading Narnia in my childhood as a result... I liked my fantasy straight up but I preferred Science Fiction. So I didn't read The Lion, The Witch and The Wordrobe until my son came along at which point I could enjoy the story without feeling hammered by the iconry.

“God do I still wish I could’ve felt more sympathy with Edmund, and figured out why, exactly, these kids are so special to Narnia.”

I suspect it has something to do with the idea that the even humblest human is the Master of God's creation (Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve... sheesh) - fit to lord it over on the lesser beings but that's just my suspicion. That, sadly, plays into the Christianists' hands and I think part of the reason I get twitchy by how many Christians are slathering praise on this movie as a tool for conversion and proseltyzing. Not that I'm cynical or anything...

I'm glad to get impartial reviews, because I haven't seen it yet, and want to know if it's worth $10.50 and the cost of popcorn, or if I should wait until it comes out on DVD.