- The magical world of C.S. Lewis’ beloved fantasy comes to life once again in PRINCE CASPIAN, the second installment of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA series. Join Peter, Susan, Edmund Lucy, the mighty and majestic Aslan, friendly new Narnian creatures and Prince Caspian as they lead the Narnians on a remarkable journey to restore peace and glory to their enchanted land. Continuing the adventure of T
The magical world of C.S. Lewis beloved fantasy comes to life once again in Prince Caspian, the second installment of The Chronicles Of Narnia series. Join Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, the mighty and majestic Aslan, friendly new Narnian creatures and Prince Caspian as they lead the Narnians on a remarkable journey to restore peace and glory to their enchanted land. Continuing the adventure of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe with more magic and a brand-new hero, Prince Caspian is a triumph of imagination, courage, love, joy and humor your whole family will want to watch again and again.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 Mraz (Sergio Castellitto). And he’s not the only one threatened: Mraz’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 Mraz 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 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
Stills from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Click for larger image)
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Buy “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” For Only $9.68
May 31, 2008
#1
I haven’t read the books, so I’m not prejudiced in any way. But as someone who actually enjoyed the first one I was startled by how shockingly dull this snoozefest sequel is.
I can sit here and spend an hour writing a review that tears the film apart bit by bit though, quite frankly, I have better things to do with my time so I will only focus on my biggest complaints.
Yes, I know it’s a film for kids and that it’s rated PG but where is the blood? Hundreds of people, humans and creatures alike, are felled in battle but there is not one drop of blood in the whole movie. What is this teaching our children about violence exactly? Don’t give me any nonsense about traumatizing them either. I saw Predator [Blu-ray] when I was a kid and I turned out fine. But this is Disney after all and the only people keeping them afloat as a studio are overprotective mothers who fear absolutely everything and are only too happy to spend money on movies and products that falsely suggest that the world is a magical and safe place (this is what you call being ‘Disneyfied’) and consider something as tame and boring as Prince Caspian to be dark and tough. “You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember,” warns Aslan. Wow, does that mean that we’ll be getting Rambo-level violence? Sadly, no. However, more people are killed in this film. Can you work that out? Because I can’t.
Since I haven’t read the book I wasn’t previously orientated as to who’s who and what their motivations are, and the film doesn’t make it any clearer I promise you. Far, far too often I found myself asking ‘Who is he?’, ‘Who are they?’, ‘Why are all the bad guys identical to each other?’, ‘Why are they the bad guys again?’. ‘What do they want?’. ‘Why are they all Spanish?’, ‘Why are the kids still kids? Shouldn’t they return to Narnia as adults?’ And so on…and so on…
The only thing this film is good for is a cure for insomnia. I know that’s a childish and crass and far from being a clever soundbite but it was so catatonic that it simply is not inspiring an intelligent review out of me.
Whatever charm The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Blu-ray] had is well and truly gone, all that’s left is some pretty scenery and that’s not enough to keep me interested for well over two hours. Please Disney, don’t even bother making the rest of them.
May 31, 2008
#2
This movie is absaloutley awful, the acting was so bad, it made me cringe in my seat. This is one example where they should have completely recasted. It was also upsetting when it decided that it wanted to be “Lord of the Rings” with all the screenshots and battles. I love the books, the Chronicles of Narnia are one of my favorite series, and the previous adaptation of “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” I loved, but this strayed much too far from the book. The reason the four children slipped by with no acting ability in the first one was because their roles were not so serious. I mean, here they are killing other human beings without even flinching! Susan just whips out her bow and shoots trained soldiers off their horses with the nonchalance of getting out of bed! I tend to be very hard on movies. If you can sit through terrible unconvincing acting that makes Vin Diesels “Fast and the Furious” look like “There Will be Blood”, than it’s a mildly enjoyable time at the cinema.
May 31, 2008
#3
Well, it depends what you want. If that is another cute fantasy film with Disney-esque animals and wise-cracking, snogging, contemporary teenagers (“Sorted!”), plus some soft-cheesy music at the end, then this is your movie. If you want something that Lewis might have regarded without horror and despair, this isn’t it.
May 31, 2008
#4
I now understand why so many great writers will never, or only under the rarest of circumstances, allow their stories to be turned into movies while they are still alive!
There’s no excuse for this horrible adaptation! – “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe” was a masterpiece, so having the genius to make a C. S. Lewis story into a great film was not an issue. Nor was money! Hollywood made a lot of cash from it’s first venture into Narnia! And finding four child & teen actors with fine acting talent to play the lead roles was a smash success. So why such a violent and unimaginative Prince Caspian?
One can only speculate. The screenplay, acting and passion are so lacking this time around that I truly wish this story never made it to the Big Screen! I feel this disaster of a film will even damage the Narnia “brand.” Since making money seems to be Hollywood’s only motivation in making this film, they should know better!
Prince Caspian was all about fighting and killing, and more killing and more fighting. One scene shows the slaughtering of retreating Narnians and even the deliberate killing of one’s own soldiers in the process. If you want to see real evil in a dumbed down fashion, you’ll see plenty in this movie! NOR IS THIS FILM APPROPRIATE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN! There’s certainly nothing cute or delightful about Prince Caspian!
Even Aslem was portrayed as a capricious deity, who didn’t lift a paw until a child had to risk her life in order to get his attention. Meanwhile, Narians are being crushed to death by flying boulders, while Aslem leisurely has a chat with her about old times. This screenplay must have been written by an Atheist or someone with a very dark sense of humor!
I frequently write reviews on films I have strong feelings about. I like to encourage people to see a good film and discourage them from seeing a bad one. Let’s face it, we have so many entertainment choices. But another reason I write reviews is to congratulate Hollywood for a job well-done, or like in this case, when a film is an unmitigated disaster, I hope to affect their bottom line. Because Hollywood is always confronted with two broad choice: To treat a story as art – with respect, passion and genius like they did in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe;” or do the opposite, and treat it like a commodity, which has the feeling of a product made on a factory assembly line! Memo to Hollywood: If you venture in Narnia again fire the current crew and bring in some fresh talent! I challenge you to make your next film one that will stand the test of time!
Better Living Through Bad Movies and Bad Movies We Love (Plume)
May 31, 2008
#5
I had a blast watching Disney’s new episode of the beloved Narnia series. As in the first movie, it starts in an England torn by WWII. A mundane subway station magically becomes transport back to Narnia, which the children had left only a year earlier – but a mmillenium past, by that world’s calendar. Their arrival signals a heroic myth returned to life.
The story thinly veils C. S. Lewis’s Christian allegory. Although I haven’t read the books in years, I was surprised at how much of the Christ mythos came through. Secularists (like me) need not worry, though. The fantasy unfolds beautifully even if you ignore that aspect. The effect-masters bring Narnia’s population of centaurs, fauns, and other beings to life very convincingly, and the battle scenes carry all the excitement, drama, and scope one could wish. Even Susan, the older girl, joins the battle – despite long skirts, light armor, and a ladylike (but deadly) longbow, she does as well in close combat as any of the others. Lucy, the little one, truly turns the battle though. You’ll see for yourself. Just wait until her baby-fatted hand draws her tiny weapon against the entire invading army – the whole course the war changes at that moment.
There’s no way to know, perhaps this does carry the thrill and majesty of Lewis’s vision of fiction. Either way, it gets the summer movie season off to a rousing start.
– wiredweird