The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

With the Lord of the Rings trilogy long gone (though we're supposed to eventually get a Hobbit movie), and the Harry Potter franchise reaching its later chapters, it would seem that Disney's Chronicles of Narnia films are our current hope for an entertaining series of fantasy films. Potential franchises like Eragon and The Golden Compass stumbled right out of the gate, so it may be all we're getting for a while. Fortunately for audiences, the second installment of the Narnia series, Prince Caspian, is a lot of fun, even if it is a little thin on the screenplay level.

Returning director and co-writer, Andrew Adamson, seems to be going for a much bigger and grander approach with this sequel. The effects for the animals and the creatures are beautifully inserted into the live action shots, and there's also a lot of wonderfully staged battle and action sequences. With its fairly quick pace and lively tone, the movie definitely delivers as a crowd pleaser, and should prove to be a big hit with most audiences. That being said, it is this same aspect that leads to its most obvious flaw. The characters and the story often find themselves taking a backseat to the spectacle. The story is centered around a royal family struggle, where the noble Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes from Stardust) finds his life in danger when the wife of his treacherous Uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), gives birth to a son. Wanting his child to assume the throne instead of the young Prince, Miraz attempts to assassinate Caspian in his sleep. Prince Caspian is warned about the plot in time to escape the castle, and finds himself alone in the world for the first time.

Oddly enough, the plot concerning the heroic Prince and his family's betrayal against him is underwhelming, and hardly even dealt with. Despite a running time of nearly two and a half hours, the action never slows down long enough for Caspian to truly stop and realize what has happened to him. There's a scene where the Prince and the evil King confront one another, and the King's wife learns of what has happened (she believed Caspian had disappeared). She seems shocked by her husband's actions, but this is never elaborated on, nor do we truly get to see her after this scene. It also doesn't help that despite his actions early in the film, Miraz never comes across as a very intimidating villain, let alone an effective one. For all his schemings of murder and backstabbing, he is surprisingly dull and dry. It's a far cry from the central villain in the last film, the White Witch, who was so memorably portrayed by Tilda Swinton with the right amount of malice and deceit. In fact, when the Witch makes a brief cameo about halfway through this film, it helps remind us even more of what a much more effective threat she was in comparison to Miraz.

Back to the plot - While on the run from the King's soldiers, Caspian comes across a magical horn that when played, summons the four brave children from Earth who saved Narnia in 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Siblings Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skander Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are in London, waiting for the train to take them to school, when they find themselves magically whisked away to the kingdom of Narnia. They quickly learn that the land they came to love is quite different from when they left it. Even though one year has passed for them since their adventure through the wardrobe, over 1,000 years have passed in Narnia, and many of the places they were familiar with are now in ruin due to the actions of the evil King. The animals and mythical creatures of the land have gone into exile, and stranger still, noble Aslan the lion (voice by Liam Neeson) has disappeared. Shortly after arriving, they meet a dwarf named Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), who clues them in on Narnia's current state, and leads them to where the exiled creatures of Narnia wait in hiding. Now that the four have returned, and Prince Caspian has joined their cause against his cruel Uncle, a second battle for the kingdom is set to begin.

Much like the plot surrounding the young Prince and the King, the four returning heroes are left somewhat underdeveloped this time around. We learn very little new about them, and they seem to mostly be here to lead everyone into battle. Unofficial leader Peter screams "For Narnia!" a lot, Susan pretty much shoots her apparently endless supply of arrows at enemies, Edmund kind of stands in the background until the battle sequences, and youngest sibling Lucy mainly sits on the sidelines, and wonders what has happened to Aslan, especially since she keeps on having visions and dreams of her majestic lion friend. There are some subplots that try to strengthen the characters a little bit, both of them concerning the kids' relationship with Caspian. Peter seems to be at odds with the Prince at times, since they both want to give orders, and individually think that they know the way to victory in battle. Susan, meanwhile, is attracted to Caspian, even though they spend little screen time together, and mainly just give each other looks most of the time. The young performers are all strong in their individual roles, even if the screenplay gives them little to do outside of the action sequences. Of particular note is Georgie Henley as Lucy, who brings the right amount of innocence to her role, without ever coming across as being forced or overly cute.

Looking over this review, I realize that I have mostly focused on the negatives up to this point. So, why am I recommending the film? I have always believed that there is a place for spectacle, and Prince Caspian definitely delivers there. As mentioned earlier, the effects work to bring the various animals, minotaurs, griffins, and other various creatures to life is stunning. Not only are the models highly detailed, they're animated to the point that they have as much personality (if not more so) than their human co-stars. A particular favorite of mine is a little mouse soldier voiced by comic actor Eddie Izzard. Call me a sucker for an easy sight gag, but seeing the little guy defeating enemy soldiers that tower over him made me laugh every time. Director Andrew Adamson has worked on some of the Shrek films in the past, and there's no doubt that he drew on the Puss in Boots character from those films in creating the dashing rodent warrior, but he's strong enough to stand on his own. As mentioned before, the action is much greater than the last film, with many lavish battle scenes that may call to mind the epic battles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but once again, are strong enough on their own not to come across as being completely derivative. Some sequences have been expanded upon from the original novel by C.S. Lewis, and some were created for the film, but they are all expertly handled, and would be worthy enough to be showstopping climaxes in many other action films.

The thing is, I didn't really have time to think of these problems while watching the film. Prince Caspian is quickly paced and holds many memorable scenes and images, that the problems don't come to light until you stop and look back on it. I was entertained and got wrapped up into the fantasy world created in the film, so I'd call it a success in the end. Fans of the book or the previous film are bound to find a lot to like here. I certainly would welcome a third big screen visit to Narnia, as long as the characters are as developed as well as the effects and the world itself.

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