Still on something of a family fantasy film high in the wake of the most recent Harry Potter adventure, I came to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe with high hopes of another cinematic treat for children young and forty-something.

Sadly those hopes soon dissipated in the face of a film that lacks style, sophistication and real heart. The characters of the four children are not adequately developed, despite the rather long and laboured preamble before they are transported to Narnia, and it's not even entirely clear why we should be siding with Aslan against the supposedly villainous White Witch.

True, her followers are generally on the hideous side, but on that basis half the contestants on The X Factor would have been consigned to the dustbin of talent show history weeks ago.

Structurally the film lacks cohesion, and the shortage of consistency extends to the visuals, where up to the mark effects sit alongside costumes and masks that smack of television budgets. While there are some very amusing and touching performances from Jim Broadbent and others, their talent is sadly under used in a film whose sense of wonder is fatally undermined by its distracting shortcomings.

Opening on Thursday the 8th of December, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, is a film which children will doubtless be keen to see. But I'd be surprised if they're asking for the DVD a few months down the line.