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I took my mum to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe last night. She and I both read the Narnia books as children, and while we vaguely recall reading them all our fondest, and strongest, memories were of this first story.

Remember when Lord of the Rings first came out, and anyone who had read the books was raving about how fantastic it was? Well I never really bought into all that; I’d read the book, sure, but it didn’t have a huge impact on me and so while I appreciated the film as a magnificent work of art, it didn’t affect me as profoundly as I know it did many others. Perhaps because I read the Narnia books as a child (I must have been around seven years old) I have a stronger attachment to this universe, because from Lucy’s first tumble into Narnia right through to Aslan’s final roar I wore a grin on my face that belonged to the seven-year-old Howard who first read the book.

Andrew Adamson’s adaptation puts not a foot or a paw wrong at any point in its 140 minute run. I don’t know where they found the actors to play Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy but they were exactly as I remembered them - it’s like they put what was in my head on the screen. I spent the duration of the film in childlike wonder, knowing what was coming next, and knowing - after a while - that it was going to be done right.

Tilda Swinton is marvelous as the evil white witch but the real triumph is the computer generated Aslan. Aslan has the voice of Liam Neeson and such natural movement that you will forget he was pasted into the scene in post-production. Watch for the sequence where Lucy and Susan accompany Aslan through the forest at night; tell me that isn’t the most convincing CGI animal you’ve ever seen!

If you ever read and enjoyed the books as a child, you must see this film.