It's a sad thing that you even need to mention 'no romance'.
If people would stop casting teenagers to play child roles, they wouldn't be tempted to put such a thing in their films!

Polly and Digory are both pre-teen children. Polly hasn't begun to grow up, loves having a Smugglers Cave and sees things as a child. Digs is still young enough to cry as a child, and should be allowed to behave as one, not like a 16 year old pretending to be 13.

There is enough romance - the lovely Frank and Helen, sweet young couple who cope with being whisked off to become the first king and queen of a new land (where they seem to thrive, and produce several children!).

Posted by: @coracle

 

If people would stop casting teenagers to play child roles, they wouldn't be tempted to put such a thing in their films!

Polly and Digory are both pre-teen children. Polly hasn't begun to grow up, loves having a Smugglers Cave and sees things as a child. Digs is still young enough to cry as a child, and should be allowed to behave as one, not like a 16 year old pretending to be 13.

That's kind of the reason why I don't like the idea of aging them up. How often is that kids do the ultimate thing in movies or series? I think I'd much rather have a 12 and a 11 or even a 11 and a 10 year old.

It is plenty to have Digory and Polly to each have someone to play with or go on adventures with. His father is away in India, and his mother is ill to the point of death. She mentions that all her friends are away on Holiday. So it's like they each need to have someone to play with.

Hopefully a reasonable director or producer, when it comes to the marketing biz, would say, “Hey isn’t that too obvious? Hey, let’s do this way instead.” 

Posted by: @coracle

There is enough romance - the lovely Frank and Helen, sweet young couple who cope with being whisked off to become the first king and queen of a new land (where they seem to thrive, and produce several children!).

I hope they show Frank and Helen's coronation. I can almost picture a procession taking place. It would go from how Narnia, a newly created world, that evil has already entered it. Then the joy of the procession of the coronation taking place.

And like what I've mentioned about the despair and hope, they should take time to feel that. I think that's what the Walden movies were missing. give credit that they did a good job with the despair of the eternal winter in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and the sadness that the old days are gone in Prince Caspian. However, they focused so much on the battle instead of the freeing of the statues and freeing the school children.

They should not rush through the emotion of despair and hope. They should not have Digory's mother recover then jump to where he builds the wardrobe.

About a week after this it was quite certain that Digory’s Mother was getting better. About a fortnight later she was able to sit out in the garden. And a month later that whole house had become a different place. Aunt Letty did everything that Mother liked; windows were opened, frowsy curtains were drawn back to brighten up the rooms, there were new flowers everywhere, and nicer things to eat, and the old piano was tuned and Mother took up her singing again, and had such games with Digory and Polly that Aunt Letty would say “I declare, Mabel, you’re the biggest baby of the three.”

They should take time to feel the joy that she is better. That's where the emotion of despair and hope comes to play.

We should also address that The Magician's Nephew should not have an epic climatic battle. I mean, I can kind of see it happening with The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, The Horse And His Boy, Prince Caspian, and The Last Battle. But not so much with The Magician's Nephew, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair.

Now here where the real climax is-

Digory was just turning to go back to the gates when he stopped to have one last look around. He got a terrible shock. He was not alone. There, only a few yards away from him, stood the Witch. She was just throwing away the core of an apple which she had eaten. The juice was darker than you would expect and had made a horrid stain round her mouth. Digory guessed at once that she must have climbed in over the wall. And he began to see that there might be some sense in that last line about getting your heart’s desire and getting despair along with it. For the Witch looked stronger and prouder than ever, and even, in a way, triumphant; but her face was deadly white, white as salt.

All this flashed through Digory’s mind in a second; then he took to his heels and ran for the gates as hard as he could pelt; the Witch after him. As soon as he was out, the gates closed behind him of their own accord. That gave him the lead but not for long. By the time he had reached the others and was shouting out “Quick, get on, Polly! Get up, Fledge”, the Witch had climbed the wall, or vaulted over it, and was close behind him again.

“Stay where you are,” cried Digory, turning round to face her, “or we’ll all vanish. Don’t come an inch nearer.”

“Foolish boy,” said the Witch. “Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to me now, you will miss some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life.”

“Well I don’t want to hear it, thanks,” said Digory. But he did.

“I know what errand you have come on,” continued the Witch. “For it was I who was close beside you in the woods last night and heard all your counsels. You have plucked fruit in the garden yonder. You have it in your pocket now. And you are going to carry it back, untasted, to the Lion; for him to eat, for him to use. You simpleton! Do you know what that fruit is? I will tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life. I know, for I have tasted it; and I feel already such changes in myself that I know I shall never grow old or die. Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and be king and queen of this whole world—or of your world, if we decide to go back there.”

“No thanks,” said Digory, “I don’t know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is dead. I’d rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven.”

“But what about this Mother of yours whom you pretend to love so?”

“What’s she got to do with it?” said Digory.

“Do you not see, Fool, that one bite of that apple would heal her? You have it in your pocket. We are here by ourselves and the Lion is far away. Use your Magic and go back to your own world. A minute later you can be at your Mother’s bedside, giving her the fruit. Five minutes later you will see the colour coming back to her face. She will tell you the pain is gone. Soon she will tell you she feels stronger. Then she will fall asleep—think of that; hours of sweet natural sleep, without pain, without drugs. Next day everyone will be saying how wonderfully she has recovered. Soon she will be quite well again. All will be well again. Your home will be happy again. You will be like other boys.”

“Oh!” gasped Digory as if he had been hurt, and put his hand to his head. For he now knew that the most terrible choice lay before him.

“What has the Lion ever done for you that you should be his slave?” said the Witch. “What can he do to you once you are back in your own world? And what would your Mother think if she knew that you could have taken her pain away and given her back her life and saved your Father’s heart from being broken, and that you wouldn’t—that you’d rather run messages for a wild animal in a strange world that is no business of yours?”

“I—I don’t think he is a wild animal,” said Digory in a dried-up sort of voice. “He is—I don’t know—”

“Then he is something worse,” said the Witch. “Look what he has done to you already; look how heartless he has made you. That is what he does to everyone who listens to him. Cruel, pitiless boy! you would let your own Mother die rather than—”

“Oh shut up,” said the miserable Digory, still in the same voice. “Do you think I don’t see? But I—I promised.”

“Ah, but you didn’t know what you were promising. And no one here can prevent you.”

“Mother herself,” said Digory, getting the words out with difficulty, “wouldn’t like it—awfully strict about keeping promises—and not stealing—and all that sort of thing. She’d tell me not to do it—quick as anything—if she was here.”

“But she need never know,” said the Witch, speaking more sweetly than you would have thought anyone with so fierce a face could speak. “You wouldn’t tell her how you’d got the apple. Your Father need never know. No one in your world need know anything about this whole story. You needn’t take the little girl back with you, you know.”

That was where the Witch made her fatal mistake. Of course Digory knew that Polly could get away by her own ring as easily as he could get away by his. But apparently the Witch didn’t know this. And the meanness of the suggestion that he should leave Polly behind suddenly made all the other things the Witch had been saying to him sound false and hollow. And even in the midst of all his misery, his head suddenly cleared, and he said (in a different and much louder’ voice):

“Look here; where do you come into all this? Why are you so precious fond of my Mother all of a sudden? What’s it got to do with you? What’s your game?”

“Good for you, Digs,” whispered Polly in his ear. “Quick! Get away now.” She hadn’t dared to say anything all through the argument because, you see, it wasn’t her Mother who was dying.

“Up then,” said Digory, heaving her on to Fledge’s back and then scrambling up as quickly as he could. The horse spread its wings.

“Go then, Fools,” called the Witch. “Think of me, Boy, when you lie old and weak and dying, and remember how you threw away the chance of endless youth! It won’t be offered you again.”

They were already so high that they could only just hear her. Nor did the Witch waste any time gazing up at them; they saw her set off northward down the slope of the hill.

The real drama comes from Digory willing to undo the wrong when he brought evil to Narnia. So no big giant battle! Don't have Jadis break out with small army from the North against the Council of Aslan! Besides, Narnia is a newly created world so what would be the point of an epic climatic battle? Unless they want to have a cosmic battle with the stars (Perish the thought, though!)

There still can be an exciting scene, but Digory saying "no" to all these three temptations is what it really comes down to. Does the word "battle" mean anything now?