The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis, Tilda Swinton, Sergio Castellitto, Vincent Grass, Pierfrancesco Favino, Damian Alcazar, Liam Neeson (voice), Eddie Izzard (voice)
Directed by: Andrew Adamson
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: The Pevensie children (Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell) travel back to Narnia after a year, shocked to find that it has been 1,000 years for Narnia. Now, they team with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) to battle against the evil King (Sergio Castellitto) who stole his throne and seeks to enslave the Narnians.

Review:

Tim: I still am not completely sure what to think about this movie. I was so, so excited about the first film. When I watched it, I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away. To be frank, I was expecting more. So, going into this film, I had mixed feelings. In fact, I didn't even see this in theaters (if you know me, you know that I always see the big blockbusters in theaters). I just couldn't get excited about this movie. However, I finally did get around to it, and unfortunately, I was fairly right. This movie is a step down in quality. I really went back and forth on what to rate this movie, and in the end, the first film had enough goodwill to push this up in my eyes.

Once again, we are transported back to Narnia, but this is not the Narnia we remember. In fact, in many ways, this seems like a completely different film (instead of a traditional sequel). Besides the Pevensie children, almost none of the original film's characters are back. We have a whole slew of new characters, and they aren't nearly as good as the previous ones. In some ways, it is exciting for the sequel to be so completely different from the original. On the other hand, it makes you miss certain qualities from the first movie.

It was genuinely good to see Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, and Anna Popplewell reprise their roles. They are a little older, and I enjoyed seeing their development. I thought they were all actually less annoying in this film. Ben Barnes is a good addition to the cast. He's not a terrific actor, but he does a serviceable job. I really liked the extremely small role of Tilda Swinton, and I thought it did a great job of bridging these two films together. Plus, I was glad to see Liam Neeson was back voicing Aslan, even if he really isn't a focus of this movie at all.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is ambitious enough and exciting enough to cover up for some of its flaws. I was disappointed that this movie wasn't as good as the original. In fact, after this film didn't live up to the previous movie's box office take, there was some question if this would be the last in the series. That is troubling. This movie was decent, but I don't think I'd watch it again and again.

*Update- Well, I did finally watch the film again, but it took me 17 years. This time, I watched the movie with my 10 year-old son. A few months ago, we'd read C.S. Lewis' book. So, I went into The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with a much broader understanding of what I was about to watch. Here's the thing I didn't realize when I first watched this movie- Lewis' book, upon which this film is based- isn't that good. Oh sure, it's solid, it's fine. But, from a narrative standpoint and especially in terms of cinematic qualities, it's a bit of a letdown. The big climax is surprisingly bland. So, this film faced an uphill battle to begin with- adapting the book faithfully would result in a pretty rough movie.

I do think my original review was right on. This film isn't as good as the first one. There's no way it could be, with the lesser quality of the book. Andrew Adamson (along with talented co-writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) actually do a really good job of adapting the right pieces of the book, while expanding the battles and exciting sequences substantially. The attack on the castle isn't in the book, and the big battle against Miraz was all created for the movie. These were necessary adjustments. This is certainly a case of the movie being better than the book, which is saying something, when this film is clearly a step below the previous one.

Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, William Mosley, and Anna Popplewell all give adequate performances, but I don't think any of them are especially talented. They're a bit more comfortable in the roles. It's funny to me that when I first saw this film, Peter Dinklage obviously wasn't even on my radar. True, he's nearly unrecognizable as Trumpkin, but he brings immense emotion to the role. His ability to act with his eyes is a standout feature and he uses that skill fully here. Dinklage is absolutely one of the best parts of this film. I do like Ben Barnes, although his performance here is certainly hit-or-miss. He has some nice moments and is generally well-cast as Caspian. I thought Pierfrancesco Favino was great in his smaller supporting role. Like I mentioned, it was nice seeing Tilda Swinton and hearing Liam Neeson, although both their roles are significantly smaller this time around. Eddie Izzard does nice work voicing Reepicheep, who is one of the more memorable characters in the film.

Broadly, I feel very similar about this film the second time I saw it. It's good, impressive when you consider the issues with the source novel. It's not nearly as exciting or memorable as the first film. This movie is also obviously far too long- 2 hours and 30 minutes is a bit absurd. I doubt I'll ever watch it again, twice is certainly enough. That being said, I had fun watching it with my son. He liked it, but mentioned a half dozen times how it wasn't close to being as good as the original. The kid is wise beyond his years. My six year-old daughter joined us to view the final battle and handled it all surprisingly well. She got a bit emotional at the conclusion (which is legitimately sad when you consider the implications, especially for Peter and Susan). She enjoyed it, though, and asked to watch the first film. She's pretty darn amazing, too. So, I'm glad I watched this film again, especially because I got to share it with my kids.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Lord of the Rings trilogy