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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2 Disc Special Edition) [2008] | | |
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Amazon.co.uk Review
More exciting than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian continues the movie franchise based on C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy books. The movie picks up where the first left off... sort of. It's been a year since the Pevensie children--Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley)--returned to England from Narnia, and they've just about resigned themselves to living their ordinary lives. But just like that, they're once again transported to a fantastical land, but one with a long-abandoned castle. It turns out that they are in Narnia again--and they themselves lived in that castle, but hundreds of years ago in Narnia time. They've been summoned back to help Prince Caspian (Stardust's Ben Barnes, resembling a young, cultured Keanu Reeves), the rightful heir to the throne who's become the target of his power-hungry uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). And he's not the only one threatened: Miraz's people, the Telmarines, have pushed all the Narnians--the talking animals, the centaurs and other beasts, the walking trees--to the brink of extinction. Despite some alpha-male bickering, Peter and Caspian agree to fight Miraz alongside the remaining Narnians, including the dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard). (Also appearing is Warwick Davis, who was in Willow and the 1989 BBC version of Prince Caspian.) But of course they most of all miss the noble lion, Aslan, who would have never let this happen to Narnia if he hadn't disappeared. Prince Caspian is epic, evoking memories of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. (Some of the battle elements may seem too familiar, but they were in Lewis's book.) And it's appropriate for kids (Reepicheep could have come out of a Shrek movie), though the tone is dark and there is a lot of death, albeit bloodless. After two successful films, Disney and Walden Media's franchise has proved successful enough that many of the characters are scheduled to return in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. --David Horiuchi, Amazon.com
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 You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember June 28, 2008
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
31 out of 33 found this review helpful
Imagine finding a magical kingdom in another world... only to return over a thousand years later, and find it in ruins.
That's the whole idea of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," a superb sequel to "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." While it has a climax that goes on WAY too long, this movie shows us the darker side of C.S. Lewis' fantastical world -- with a heavy dose of Shakespearean villains, political intrigue, and some spectacularly epic battles.
It's been 1,300 years in Narnia, and the human Telmarines have invaded and driven the native Narnians underground. Aslan hasn't been seen in centuries.
As young Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) flees from his treacherous uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), he's discovered by a band of Narnians, and accidentally ends up summoning the ancient Kings and Queens of Narnia -- also known as the Pevensie children. Though initially delighted to have returned to Narnia, the Pevensies are horrified when they find that their once-idyllic land has been nearly destroyed.
Caspian has been organizing a ramshackle army of native Narnians, but Peter (William Moseley) finds that fighting an organized, armed force is very different from battling the White Witch. And after a disastrous attack, the Narnians are facing almost certain destruction -- but Lucy (Georgie Henley) is convinced that Aslan can somehow save them, and restore the kingdom to Prince Caspian....
"Prince Caspian" is definitely a darker story than its predecessor -- good guys die, coups fail, the castles are grimy, some of the good guys turn bad, and a bleak, hopeless feeling suffuses much of the movie's second half. Even our heroes have to deal with their doubts and anger, especially since Aslan is conspicuously absent for 95% of the entire film.
And if the first film was a colorful fantasy adventure, then this one is a military story -- spectacular aerial drops, castle-wide massacres, and a spectacular finale involving a massive pit, tree roots, a river, and catapults. But Adamson also packs in as much violence as a PG-rated movie can contain -- while there's only a few drops of actual gore, there's plenty of beheadings, shootings and stabbings.
But Narnia itself has lost none of its charm, and Adamson lingers lovingly on the sunlit forests and quiet rivers for as long as he can. And though the story is grim, he sprinkles it with plenty of humor (the bound-and-gagged cat) and fairly snappy dialogue. One of the most spectacular scenes involves a very familiar character speaking from inside a sheet of shimmering ice, as Caspian is dragged into a necromancer's ritual. Creepy.
Problems with the movie? Well, the climactic battle drags on for a LONG time, and every time you think it'll end, it revs back up. And those masked soldiers are a wee bit too reminiscent of "300's" Persians.
The four Pevensie actors all do solid jobs, although William Moseley is the standout -- Peter is struggling with doubt and a bit of alpha rivalry. Barnes starts off a little stiffly -- come on, where's the fear? -- but soon grows into the difficult role of a Hamlet-like prince who is struggling to become both a Narnian friend and a Telmarine king.
But there's a pretty brilliant supporting cast as well: Castellitto is simply outstanding as the ruthless, icy-cold Miraz, as are Damian Alcazar and Pierfrancesco Favino as his scheming advisors. Warwick Davis does a low-key, malevolent turn as Nikabrik, while Peter Dinklage is the likably brusque, cynical Trumpkin. And Eddie Izzard is top-notch as the mousy swashbuckler Reepicheep -- this could have a silly, comic-relief character, but he does end up being both adorable and formidable.
"Prince Caspian" drops the children's fantasy feeling, in favor of a darker, more militaristic story. But despite its darker overtones, it never forgets the light side.
 Brilliant adaptation of the book July 20, 2008
Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK)
23 out of 26 found this review helpful
This review is based on having been to see the film in the cinema with my family.
Andrew Adamson and the team who produced "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" have surpassed themselves this time. All four of the actors who played the Pevensie children are brilliant and the film introduces Ben Barnes who is spellbinding as Caspian.
If you enjoyed either the original book or the first film you will almost certainly love this adaptation.
Apart from the five leads, other excellent performances come from Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan and Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep, the leader of the talking mice - an incredibly difficult role to bring off because he has to be funny in places but also genuinely heroic. (If you've not read the book, imagine a version of Antonio Banderas's character from Shrek II except that where the swordfighting "Puss in Boots" is 80% comic and 20% hero, Reepicheep the swordfighting mouse is 80% hero and 20% comic.) Warwick Davis - who played Reepicheep in the BBC version 20 years ago - is excellent this time as the black dwarf Nikabrak and Peter Dinklage is even better as the cynical but golden hearted dwarf Trumpkin.
Previous reviewers have posted some excellent descriptions of the film from the viewpoint of a newcomer to Narnia, so I will add a few comments aimed at those who are familiar with the books but have not yet seen the film.
Surprisingly, the film managed both to be reasonably true to the spirit of the book and also keep me in suspense, because the way the story was presented kept me thinking the film must be about to diverge from Lewis's plot, though it ususlly didn't. In fact almost all the major events of the book eventually happened in the film in more or less the same way, along with most of my favourite details of the book, although the order of events is not quite the same.
What's missing: Bacchus and his wild girls have been censored, and any schoolteachers cursed with naughty children may be disappointed to learn that the scene where a class of horrid little boys get turned into pigs has been taken out. The Bulgy Bear does get to be one of the Marshals for the duel between Peter and Miraz, but the delightful little exchange when he reminds Peter that he has the right to that position "I'm a bear, I am!") didn't make it into the final cut. When Aslan summons the River God, the latter manifests as a man in the shape of a column of water rather than weeds and doesn't need any further permission ("Hail, Lord! Loose my chains") to deal with the Bridge of Beruna. When the DVD comes out I shall be fascinated to see if any of these are in the "Deleted scenes."
What's been added: this story gives far more details of the battles than the original book, and also to the political manouvering amongst the Telmarines. In the original the initial battle between the forces of Caspian and the Narnians, and those of the Telmarines loyal to Miraz, is passed over in a few lines written in the past tense. In the film a completely different battle which has, however, an equivalent place in the story is shown in gripping detail. The desperate battle which follows the duel is also depicted in much greater detail than in the book.
Anna Popplewell's character Susan Pevensie also gets a significantly meatier role than in the book: Queen Susan is not just a formidable archer herself but plays a heroic role commanding the Narnian archers at the Battle of Beruna and she also has what looks like a near romance with Caspian.
Having built up Susan's character as much as they have in this film, the producers may have created even more trouble than they would probably already have had if they follow the original detail and allowing her to drift away from Narnia as recorded in the book "The Last Battle." This treatment of Susan is probably the most controversial aspect of the seven books although it is not true, as frequently alleged (especially by people who want to denigrate C.S. Lewis) that Susan is excluded from heaven: the reason Susan doesn't meet the other characters in Heaven at the end of the series is that she isn't dead yet. (When Lewis was subsequently asked about this his reply, published posthumously in the book "Letters to Children," was that Susan may eventually get to heaven.) Speaking as an arch-purist where being true to Lewis's original vision is concerned, a more positive role for Susan at the end of the series is one of the few modifications which would not annoy me.
Although Peter and Susan are told at the end of "Prince Caspian" that they are not coming back to Narnia, William Mosely as High King Peter may get a cameo role at the end of the world (Narnia, not earth) in "The Last Battle" and Anna Popplewell will presumably be offered a chance to play Queen Susan again in "The Horse and his Boy" which is set during the Golden Age towards the end of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" e.g. the period while the Pevensies are Kings and Queens in Narnia, before they return to Earth at the end of the book.
Conclusion: broadly true to the book, gripping and exciting, well worth going to see. I can't wait to see Ben Barnes, Skandar Keyes, and Georgie Henshaw return in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader."
 Not the real Narnia August 12, 2008
Catlady (Yorkshire, England)
16 out of 21 found this review helpful
I took my daughter (aged 13) to see Prince Caspian, I'm a life long fan of the Narnia books, she hasn't read this one. I was really disappointed, she enjoyed it.
I was surprised to find the film of the first book (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) quite a faithful rendition, so I was expecting that this would be equally good. Unfortunately it's not.
The feeling of the film is far from that engendered by the book; it completely loses much of the magical quality and it wasted opportunities to bring in some of the exciting events which happen as 'old Narnia' reawakens. It reminded me strongly of a lot of recent films where CGI battles feature largely, at the expense of plot and character, simply to get bums on seats.
On the plus side, once the children began interacting with the 'old' Narnians (Trumpkin the dwarf, Trufflehunter the badger) it did improve and managed to capture some of the magic of Narnia. It's almost worth sitting through the whole film to see Reepicheep, the chief mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard). Of all the humans, Lucy in particular deserves to be singled out for her performance and Ben Barnes as Caspian is "well fit", though I felt that the hint of "romance" between Susan and Caspian was ill advised and didn't add anything to the story.
Casting Spaniards as the usurping Telemarines was quite clever too, as it emphasised the fact that they were not true Narnians and were only interested in money and power. Miraz was particularly well played, as were the two traitorous lords who finish him off and precipitate the final battle.
What a pity there wasn't more magic, more humour and less fighting. I can't help thinking that C.S.Lewis would have been sorely disappointed at the modern take on his book. Let's hope the next one's better - there aren't any battles in it and there's lots of magic, so no excuses!
The first Narnia was good, but Prince Caspian came wiped the floor underneath it September 10, 2008
Jenny J.J.I. (That Lives in Northern Nevada)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I already expected this to be an exciting movie, but I have to tell you that the excitement got so much higher as I watched this movie with my kids. I couldn't believe just how well this movie was, I mean the first Chronicles is a fantastic movie, but this movie takes a few steps ahead. It's definitely more mature, it takes on a lot of battle scenes, like a Lord of the Rings type of battle with a ton of creatures who are fighting for their land back. We have amazing effects, with taking badgers, goats, and mice, and the mice, this is no Puss in Boots from Shrek 2, this is the blood thirsty mice that kick butt! The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is seriously one of the best films out this year.
The movie begins where the first Chronicles left off, the kids are in England, pretty depressed and miss Narnia, it's been a year, but while in a train station, they are taken away back to Narnia where it's been 1300 years. The land is in bad shape, they have been called by Prince Caspian, the kids are these legends to the Narnians, but they need the kid's help. So everyone is in for a strong battle to get Narnia back into the beautiful land it once was. Lucy is hoping to re-connect with Aslan, but everyone does not believe as strong as she does.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a movie that will not disappoint, I cannot believe how good this movie was, I was so excited watching all these amazing battle sequences. The plot is actually pretty easy to follow, for kids that are under 10, I'm not so sure if this is a film for them, I know that The Chronicles of Narnia is a family film, but there is quite a bit of violence in the movie, like blood, cutting, and decapitations. The effects were amazing in every way, the acting was great and even the politics were surprisingly good. All I can say is that this is a superb movie, 10 times better than the first. It's truly a winner.
well worth going to see July 6, 2008
William T. Britton (surrey,england)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Having seen the first film I was expecting more of the same when in fact its far better.If you intend to watch this I wont spoil it by giving away any details except it is darker and grittier than the first.GEORGIE HENLEY and SKANDER KEYNES are excellent and easily out act the other young leads in this film the battle scene at the end may be a bit too long for younger viewers but for older ones I feel that they will realise that considering the Narnian army is once again heavily outnumbered to give it any credability they have to stretch it out with some twist and turns to turn the tide in their favour and make it look like a proper battle .Overal I would say this is a must see film for narnia fans
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