A Dark Return
Prince Caspian Fights for Narnia
At the end of the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) asks the professor if she and her siblings will ever return to the magical land of Narnia. He answers, "Oh, I expect so. But it'll probably happen when you're not looking for it. All the same... best to keep your eyes open."
Written by: Andrew Adamson & Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis
Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis and Cornell John
Rated
(for
epic battle action and violence)Running time: 144 min.
FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.
This summer, director Andrew Adamson is taking moviegoers back to Narnia in the adventure epic The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Though darker and more action-oriented than its predecessor, Prince Caspian does what few sequels can by creating a film that is not a mere retelling of the original story.
The film begins with the birth of a child. What appears to be a joyous event, however, soon turns foul. With the birth of a male heir, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) no longer needs his nephew Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes). Miraz orders his general to kill Caspian, but the young prince escapes into the night.
Elsewhen, the Pevensie children are growing up. Though it has been a year since their adventure in Narnia, they are reluctant to let go of the experience. They keep wondering how they might return. Little do they know that their wish is about to come true. When Caspian blows on a magical horn given to him by his mentor, his call for help reverberates across worlds and pulls the Pevensie children from London, England, back to Narnia.
On their new adventure, Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy discover that time moves in different ways between their world and the one that Narnia inhabits. While only a year has passed for them, 1,300 years have passed in Narnia. The kingdom they once inhabited now lies in ruin. The magical creatures are in hiding, and many of the animals have lost their ability to speak.
Though Prince Caspian is a stunning sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe it is a very different story. Even as the Pevensie children are growing up, so too is the story. The script is darker, filled with murder and betrayal, including the King's attempt to kill his own nephew. The film has two large battle sequences, the first of which ends badly for the army of Narnia.
Yet, the film maintains a family-friendly tone, eschewing bloodshed and the coarser realities of adulthood. Instead, the film remains true to the Disney values by providing a story that would be welcome in almost any home. Although the battle scenes could be a bit frightening for some small children, the film promises a guaranteed happy ending for the good guys.
Though they are still searching for the great Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), the children have made new allies. In addition to Prince Caspian, they also befriend a pair of dwarves named Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and Nikibrik (Warwick Davis), as well as a centaur named Glenstorm (Cornell John).
Dinklage gives Trumpkin the necessary warmth to make him approachable, despite his gruff exterior. The man is an amazing actor, best known for his work in The Station Agent and the short-lived television series Threshold. I hope they find room for him in the forthcoming installments.
The special effects are once again a top-notch affair. Never before have mythical creatures been rendered in such realistic ways. We see realistic badgers and bears speaking, as well as an army of fauns, centaurs, dwarves and giants. From the movement of the centaurs to the simple mechanics of a trebuchet, everything in Narnia is made real in painstaking detail.
Just as Aslan the Lion was the computer animated star of the first film, this film belongs to the brave mouse Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard). The mouse not only provides comic relief, he comes across as a true hero despite his size and the fact that, well... he's a mouse.
The strength of Prince Caspian lies in its source material. C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series is a timeless classic that still resonates with readers today. It's small wonder that the new film, like its predecessor, has the ability to transport audiences to a wondrous land – even if only for a little while.
Copyright ©2002-present by Kevin Wohler. All rights reserved.
All movie titles, images, and sounds are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of their respective holders.
Site design by Wohler Web Works.
Web hosting provided by:
