Young Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) is more than bit flabbergasted when she finds a street lamp at the back of Professor Kirke’s (Jim Broadbent) upstairs wardrobe. That’s nothing, however, compared to the snowy forest and the wintry skyline. What Lucy has discovered is a magical doorway leading from WWII England into the wintry wonderland of Narnia, a fairy tale-like empire under the rule of a mad sorceress known to all residing within as the White Witch Jadis (Tilda Swinton).

Soon Lucy’s three siblings join her on the other side of the wardrobe, eldest Peter (William Moseley) and middle children Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), all flabbergasted as to the situation they all suddenly find themselves in. They have traded one war they cannot fight with one they cannot escape, the entire fate of Narnia prophesized to rest upon the shoulders of four human children remarkably similar to themselves. Now, armed with weapons supplied by Father Christmas (James Cosmo) and aided by woodland animals like Mr. Beaver (Ray Winstone) and Mr. Fox (Rupert Everett), they will join the rightful ruler, the gigantic lion Aslan (Liam Neeson), on the battlefield. At stake will be the fate of Narnia, and if the four children cannot find it within themselves to become the heroes they were destined to be all will be lost in wintry desolation forever.

It is no surprise Disney has decided to bankroll a pricey adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first chapter in the author’s seven volume The Chronicles of Narnia series. The surprise is that is has taken so long for it to happen. Of course, the billion dollar success of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” will make fantasy epic believers out of even the most budget-conscious Hollywood executive. Combine that with the continued popularity of Warner Bros.’ feature adaptations of J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter (with the latest installment “The Goblet of Fire” already clearing over $210 million in the United States alone) adventures, giving “Shrek” director Andrew Adamson $100 million to make this borders on being a no-brainer.

Hype aside, the question is, of course, is if the resulting epic “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” any good? As a childhood fan of the novels, I admit freely I, like everyone else, was excited to see how it all was going to turn out, secretly sitting on pins and needles in hopes this first Narnia adventure would prove to be a winner. And, at least in the early scenes, Adamson’s feature is just that, those preliminary forays into the backside of the wardrobe pure magic. But that magic doesn’t last, and as good as this first third is the whole thing tends to drag, culminating in a large-scale battle that, while having its moments, can’t help but feel like a bit too much Lucas and Jackson-inspired déjà vu.

Those early moments are wondrous, though. Lucy’s encounter with timid fawn Mr. Tumnus (a fantastically twitchy and sensitive James McAvoy) is priceless, one of the most ethereal and cheerfully enthralling pieces of film I’ve had the pleasure to see this year. Almost as good is Edmund’s initial seduction at the hands of the White Witch, her bribing him with oceans of Turkish Delight every bit as scary, intoxicating and melodious as I had imagined it would be in my youth. There is also a simply breathtaking race across a rapidly melting sheet of ice, Adamson generating suspense and excitement with the most effortless of brushstrokes.

But as “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” goes on, momentum ebbs away and the whole thing starts to drag interminably. While Adamson and his three co-screenwriters do a fairly decent job of streamlining the novel, their knack for dialogue borders on the absurd, calling to mind the most ludicrous soliloquies from any of Lucas’ “Star Wars” adventures. Worse, the events leading up to the epic final battle is downright tiresome, the air so thick with over-familiar cliché I kept looking at my watch wondering how long it would last. The answer, unfortunately, is too long, the whole stretch before this skirmish (including an astonishingly flat execution at the Stone Table that should be the movie’s most emotional act) so anemically paced and preachy I wasn’t sure if I was watching a big budget fantasy adventure or a rather benign Sunday School sermon.

Sunday School? That’s right, moments and scenes of this are right out of a sermon. But why wouldn’t they be? Lewis was a Christian scholar who reportedly wrote The Chronicles of Narnia as thinly veiled retellings of biblical teachings, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice Aslan is a fury substitute for Jesus. While I don’t have a problem with a picture giving me a little religion, both “Ben-Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” are two of my favorite films after all, I just have a problem with said religion being spoon fed to me like I was a six-year-old child. Worse, I have an even greater problem with it being boring.

What isn’t boring is the performance of Swinton. Simply, this woman rocks the screen, a powerfully frightening potentate who sends equal parts shivers and chills up and down a person’s spine in equal measure. As portraits of pure evil go, this is easily one of the very best. Scarier than Voldemort, more corrosively corrupt than Sith Lord Senator Palpatine, Swinton twirls her way around the character with startling ease, cementing Jadis as one of the finest villains to hit screens in this or any other year.

While it isn’t quite enough, it’s pretty close to being so, and combined with the fine performances of the children (especially little Henley, whom I downright adored) and the astonishing visual effects at times breathtakingly so. But close is still only close, and even with an invigorating Centaur versus Minotaur smackdown if I’m remembering the saying correctly close doesn’t even warrant a cigar. And while I’m sure Disney won’t be disappointed by the box office receipts (“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is an almost guaranteed smash), I’m still disappointed by the movie, and not even a magic wand full of smiles, butterflies and rainbows is going to be able to change that.

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)