Prince Caspian is a surprising movie for a number of reasons. For one, it’s much darker and more violent than “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”. Secondly, the Christian symbolism is even more apparent. Thirdly, I’ve never seen a mouse with a sword kill so many people. But is it a good movie? The short answer is yes. It starts off dark and ominous and the tone kind of stays there with a few bright moments, but there is nothing jarring and out of place like in “Speed Racer.” The tone is darker, but thankfully it is mostly even. The story is archetypal fantasy fare. The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia where they are enlisted to defeat an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land’s throne, Prince Caspian. Battles are fought, battles are won, and there are a lot more fauns around to creep you out this time. There are slow parts but not too many as we clock in at under two hours. Good to see the editor taking charge. Prince Caspian is played by Ben Barns, who really doesn’t understand the direction “tone it down a bit”. He has this ridiculous Mr. Roarke accent and you can almost hear him say “I am Prince Caspian. Feel the soft Corinthian Leather in my Cordoba.” Fans of Aslan the Lion are going to be disappointed. He’s not really in the movie that much. Sorry. He wasn’t in the book that much either but I think maybe “Shrek” director Andrew Adamson could have given the “star” of the first movie a little more screen time. But if it’s any consolation, there is one amazing sequence involving Tilda Swinton reprising her role as the White Witch. There are seven books in the “Chronicles of Narnia” but I really don’t see seven movies being made. For one, a few of the books are unfilmable for a number of reasons. “A Horse and His Boy” is one of the most boring books I’ve ever read. Then the later books are even more violent and have even darker themes, like “The Last Battle” which explores death, the end of the world and the antichrist. Doesn’t sound like a Disney movie anymore, does it? Maybe a Disney Board Meeting, but not a Disney movie. “Prince Caspian” is worth a look if you are a fantasy and C.S. Lewis fan. You can almost think of it as “Lord of the Rings” ultra-lite the way “Romancing the Stone” was to “Indiana Jones”. It has the same effects team as LOTR and you can tell. Weta Workshop shines in both practical and digital effects. So the movie is good for fantasy fans, pre-teens and teenagers but I would think twice about bringing young children to this movie, even with the PG rating. The only thing keeping it from PG-13 is a lack of blood and gore, but that doesn’t change the fact that this movie has a high body count. Getting stabbed in the face is still getting stabbed in the face, even if it’s by a mouse voiced by Eddie Izzard. Wow, I never thought I’d type that sentence.
Chris Mancini
