The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Directed by: Andrew Adamson

Starring: Ben Barnes

Genre: Fantasy

Run Time: 150 min.

Release Date: May 2008

On The Web: Official Site

Teaser: Movie Trailer

Reviewed by Byron Merritt

I think it’s safe to say that the folks at Disney (the company that made this film) watched too much of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and tried – and failed – to emulate it. Epic battles, living trees, and much more are pulled directly from what we saw only a few years ago under Peter Jackson’s able hands. And although THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN has a few "moments" of its own, it fails to entertain anywhere near the first film, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.

This is mostly due to the fact that we are rushed into battle scene after battle scene with little time to look at (and feel for) the characters. This is painfully obvious when we get 7/8 of the way through the film and still haven’t seen Aslan but have been in so many fights that they begin to meld together. The Lord of the Rings never had this problem because the focus was kept tight on the characters, particularly the Hobbits. Which brings me to a positive point about Prince Caspian: the development of the friendship between Lucy (Georgie Henley, returning from the first Chronicles film) with that of the dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage, DEATH AT A FUNERAL). Although lightly touched on by comparisons with, say, Samwise and Frodo, the connection between dwarf and young queen was powerful enough to make me care a bit about what happened to them.

The downsides, however, are just too numerous. The almost bratty nature of Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes, STARDUST) made the main character seem petulant rather than regal. And his continued arrogance toward Peter (William Moseley) was completely out of context with C.S. Lewis’ novels. The repetitive battle scenes lead nowhere, and when Narnians die, we really don’t feel any remorse for them as the viewer.

That said, there’s plenty of eye-candy in terms of CGI. It’s everywhere. And it’s almost too pervasive. But it is used well ...albeit often.

The big question many may be asking is: "Should I watch it?" And the answer is a definite "yes." Although it’s horribly flawed, it’s worth watching for Lucy and Trumpkin, as well as the funny antics of Pattertwig the Squirrel and his deadly sword. And you’ll need to be up on the film for the final release due out some time in the near future: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER. Let’s hope Disney gets that one right and we’ll at least have two out of three in the positive corner.

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Image from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

DVD cost: $28.48

Purchase: Tower.com (Blu-Ray)

Film Review Stew Favorite? No.

Stew Poo-Poo? No.

Newsworthy: The writers briefly considered combining this with the following novel "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", like the BBC did in their television adaptation.

Movie Quote: "Two days ago, I didn't believe in the existence of talking animals... of dwarves or... or centaurs. Yet here you are, in strengths and numbers that we Telmarines could never have imagined."

Other Actors/Actresses from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Images from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian