DVD Review: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Second Outing in Narnia Film Series Falls Short Despite Effort
Dec 16, 2008
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian DVD Synopsis
It has been a year since the Pevensie siblings (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) returned from the magical land of Narnia (as seen in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) and life in 1940's England is nowhere as exciting as the adventures they had as rulers of the aforementioned otherwordly realm.
Back in Narnia, time has passed more quickly than on Earth, and so 1300 years have gone by. Narnians are all but a folktale told to children, their existence deemed mythical, all but dissapeared. The rulers of the land, the Telmarines, are in control, and govern the lands with an iron fist.
Prince Caspian the 10th (Ben Barnes), the rightful heir to the Telmarine throne, is in mortal danger of being assassinated by his uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), since his wife has given birth to a son. Fleeing this potential coup out of sheer need for survival, Caspian escapes the castle, and hides out in the mysterious woods nearby. There he encoutners long thought extinct Narnians, who have lived in secret, since the Telmarines came to power.
Out of a need to call for help, both to protect his new Narnian hosts and to try and seek help defending himself against approaching Telmarine soldiers, Caspian uses a magical horn, which was to only be used to summon and Kings and Queens of Old, in Narnia's greatest time of need.
Suffice to say, said horn magically summons and transports the Pevensie siblings back to Narnia, where the kids soon discover much has changed. Soon thereafter, many new friendships are struck, and Narnians gather behind Caspian and the returned kings and queens, as they all prepare to face the evil Telmarines, who are intent on ridding the world of magical creatures forever.
Prince Caspian Overall Analysis
It shows from the get-go that director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek 2, and the first Narnia film) was looking to up the ante, by creating a larger story than the first film. And so, he decided to expand on the often vague details of the book, and opted to beef it up with more action, and more intrigue.
There is much in the way of battles in Prince Caspian, which impacts the substance of the tale negatively. Whereas the first film was more of an exposition and introduction of the players, stage and context, this film relies on this existing premise, and tries to turn the new story into its own version of a Battle of Mordor, complete with armies, and multiple fight sequences. Alas, this cast doesn't lend itself too well to this concept, and so unlike their friends in the Tolkien film, the characters of this C.S. Lewis tale get lost in the warmongering, not hinted at in the books.
There are attempts at political intrigue, but again these subplots seem tacked on, and feel just as out of place as the overage of battles are, in this two-and-a-half hour movie. Also, no real logic is given as to why the Telmarines all sound Spanish. A great way to differentiate the races, sure, but no more logical than having a French starship captain with a pronounced British accent (sorry Patrick Stewart!).
Certainly, there is plenty of amazing visual wizardry at work (seeing hordes of magical creatures of all sorts throwing themselves into a melee never fails to impress), but the actions scenes and the visual F/X should be there to complement a movie, not being its raison d'être.
This film is to mark the last appearance of Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell), the older of the siblings, as they soon come to realize that their level of maturity means they are meant not to return to Narnia someday, but to live on to grown up existences back in the Earth world. This means the next film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader (likely in theatres next, within two years), will mark the return of the younger portion of the Pevensie group, namely Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley).
Note some memorable performances in Prince Caspian, with British funnyman Eddie Izzard providing the voice of Reepicheep, and American actor Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin the dwarf.
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian DVD Features
This being a review of the 3-Disc Collector's Edition, there are plenty of featurettes, most of them discussing the amazing New Zealand and Eastern European locations used for the film (which despite its failures in story development still looks wonderful), and the ubiquitous digital copy available for portable players.
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is an awesome ersatz war film from a magical world, had it been planned as such. Though it's pretty to look at, and it is fun to revisit familiar characters, this film tries a little too hard at something it should have left well enough alone.
6.5 out of 10, for being an incredibly rich visual film, which misses its original intended mark
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