Just watched it. I hate to say it, since I really wanted to like it, but I didn't really like it that much. 
It was Disney, so there was no blood whatsoever, which took away a bunch of the feel of "realism", if you will. The opening sequence reminded me of Sky Captain type effects. The actress for the White Witch sucked. Liam Neeson may have been good for the gentle part of Aslan's voice, but it needed to be around an octave deeper. The dwarf was laughable, and my bro actually burst out laughing when he got shot by Susan. Made the whole theater laugh. Edmund's loyalties were far too flimsy. There was no feel of depth to anything at all - no connection between the audience and any of the characters. And finally, they left out the best line of the whole book! "Is he safe?" "Ho ho! Safe? No, of course he's not safe! But he's Good."
It suffered from modern-day Star Wars-itis. The effects were all very nearly seamless (a couple of strange mismatched lighting moments, but nothing too bad). At least it didn't have the feel of Episodes 1-3, that they were made around the effects. It was definitely made according to the books, but I fear it adhered to them to strictly. Many times, I felt, "Wow, they're at THIS point already??", while the whole general feel of the beginning of the movie was that it wasn't moving along.
A good, perhaps great, kids movie. Nothing spectacular.
All in all, I think Peter Jackson ruined Narnia. 
I don't think I could disagree with you more.
I just saw it two days ago, and I think it's the best movie I've seen since ROTK, hands-down. In fact, I'd put it just about even with the LOTR trilogy. I don't know how you didn't like the White Witch's actress; I thought she did a brilliant job. She played a perfectly coldhearted *****. Considering that the books, and by derivation the movies, were made for
children (I first read them at the age of 7 or so myself), I thought the lack of blood was entirely appropriate. Even without the blood, that battle sequence gave me a feeling I haven't felt since Helm's Deep or the Pelennor Fields, that of utter awe at the cinematic majesty that was unfolding before me. I think the dwarf was meant to be laughable; he came off as comic relief in the book, and besides, Lewis's dwarves were far more lawn-gnome-ish than Tolkien's hardened warriors. I laughed when he died, too, but I thought it was entirely appropriate. I had always pictured Aslan as having a voice very similar to James Earl Jones's, but I thought that Liam Neeson was absolutely brilliant; he had such a genuine warmth and kindness that he lent to the character. He played it about as far from Qui-Gon or Batman Begins as you can get, and for that I'm grateful; I think he pretty much nailed the part. I thought that Edmund played his part very well; looking back at the book, he wasn't even sure of his own loyalties until after he spoke with Aslan. That aspect of confusion in his own mind fit the character perfectly. The special effects were amazing; I swear that Aslan was portrayed by a real lion and not CGI. WETA are absolute masters at what they do.
I felt that no other adaptation could get as close to the books, both in story and in spirit, as this did; I had tears in my eyes during
Aslan's execution scene
and again at
his resurrection
I felt such a great sense of depth and emotion from the film. The release of the next one can't come soon enough for me, and I hope to God they follow through until all seven are completed. If anyone hasn't seen this yet and is thinking about it, then by all means, get out there as soon as you can and see it. Easily the best movie of 2005 (although, admittedly, I haven't seen King Kong yet), and definitely the best I've seen since LOTR.
P.S. As for that line, I barely even remembered it from the book.
In my opinion, the best line was, "He's not a tame lion," and I was immensely pleased that they snuck it in at the end.
