Prince Caspian ( Movie )
C +
It’s no secret that I’ve read each Narnia book over ten times. I used to read them starting the last day of school for about 13 or 14 years. For some reason, they remind me of summer and being 10 and discovering this awesome new world. And as I got older, the depth of each book became more and more apparent. First the obvious symbolism, then the intricate details, and now when I read them I can almost feel each character and what they must have done in between books. I may not be an expert on C.S. Lewis, but take it from me, I know more than your average reviewer.
Now to the actual review. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was a pretty decent movie. If The Review had been around back then, it probably would’ve gotten a B-. The story was very faithful to the book, the casting was incredible, and the realization of Narnia was above average. Besides the horrific sound mixing and the inconsistent pacing of the movie, it was actually quite good. It managed to take a very innocent story (the book) about some fairly deep issues, and turn it into a fairly innocent movie about occasionally deep issues. The fact that these are Disney movies is a perfect pairing. All of the books are deep and dark at the core while retaining a perfect amount of kid friendly exeriors. All told, the first movies managed to retain enough of the book and add great blockbuster elements to make a profitable adaptation that even a snob couldn’t resist seeing twice.
Prince Caspian does several things better, but many things much, much worse. The tone of the movie, some say, is perfect. I can’t agree. While the tone of this movie is much darker than the first, like in the books, it is in a completely different context. The movie utilizes a dark color scheme, rather than really exploit the character development like the book focuses on. The reason Prince Caspian is a darker tale is because this land, Narnia, and all it’s inhabitants have adandoned their faith. This is a book about civil war - the faithful and the faithless. However there is a deeper evil here. Even the faithful have lost their faith, so much so that they are in need of outside help - the Pevensies. Each character represents a different level of faith. From the animals who have lost their ability to talk to the torn dwarves to the loyal badgers and the incredulous Reepicheep.
In place of focusing on each character and how they develop throughout the book (where is the gradual increase in faith about the Pevensies, where Lucy, then Edmond, then Susan, and finally Peter see Aslan?), this movie decides to focus on the made up grudge between Caspian ( the tenth ) and Peter ( the High King ). For about 40 minutes in the middle of the film, we are introduced to a power struggle between the two that not only doesn’t exist in the book, but nearly ruins the film in my opinion. This is Peter, the Magnificent. This the boy that becomes a man and leads Narnia to peace for a thousand years. Paintings and statues of him are everywhere in Narnia. When he walks into a room, people are dazzled, not angry or resentful. This is the greatest swordsman in all the land, the literal hero of our tale!
Sure, Prince Caspian is the title character, but that’s because he calls forth Peter when he can’t win on his own. It’s his struggle, but Peter’s victory. Without Peter, there is no Caspian. At the end of this movie, we are supposed to see Caspian become the next hero of Narnia, as he will be in several more books (and movies?). We get this in the movie, but it doesn’t have nearly the effect it should, because the made-up conflict between the two kings is never properly resolved. Too much focus on dark insignificant story elements and not enough focus on the joining together of old faith and new faith to defeat evil.
This is a movie that could’ve been great, but winded up just barely good enough to make me want to see the third installment to make sure they right the wrongs they’ve done me and all other lovers of the books. Skip this one if you want and read the book, you’re doing yourself a disservice otherwise.
