The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

A Good Movie, Though I Liked The First One Better

First off, I'll comment on the spread of the reviews. The higher star rating, the more votes, which means more like it than dislike it. On the other hand, the dispersement of votes shows that it was not an overwhelming fan favorite. I suggest for that reason that you do not take this review by itself in deciding whether to purchase this.

Let me give the basics. It is based on the second of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. It has been over 20 years since I read this one, but from my memory this movie was not as faithful to the original as the first of the series was. A lot of those changes were effective for a movie. However, I think there was a little more romance than in the book, and more dealing with vengeance.

There were two great lessons in the book. One of them, dealing with Reepicheep (who stole the show, even though he's just a . . . sorry, my thought was not very original), was intact (after you see the movie or read the book, you'll notice the irony of the word "intact"). The other was juggled in the plot and lost the strength it had in the book.

The special effects were great. My favorite was the shot of an arrow speeding through the air that looked like the arrow was standing still with the background moving.

Can you take your kids with you to this movie? Sure, but I think they would have enjoyed "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" better.

November 25, 2008

A Teen's Review: Very poor adaption

Warning you up front there may be what people would consider a spoiler or two within this review.

After watching the original movie, "the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," I had high expectations for the movie. Especially after I read the book and saw how well they had adapted it into movie form. I even went out and bought the entire Narnian series so that I could read the story before hand and have an idea of the movie plot.
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What happened? It was as though they took the characters and a few chunks of the story and slapped it together in hopes of making a decent movie. And let me tell you, they failed, quite miserably. The way that they changed important pieces of the plot frustrated me, while other story lines were nearly left out altogether (For instance, they only hint at the part of the book where Lucy sees Aslan and eventually follows him despite the others protest. Then one-by-one the others begin to see him. I have always thought that to be one of the more significant plots of Prince Caspian). And then, then they add senseless plots like when they decided to invade the castle. Though admittedly Peter did "need" that part of the movie to wake him up.

Which brings me to the other major part of the movie that just annoyed me to no end. They made Peter an absolute jerk. He and Caspian were never rivals, and Peter NEVER had any intent to take over/rule/or give orders to Caspian. He essentially saw Caspian as the leader because he would be once they won the battle. Oh, and don't get me started on that ridiculous "potential romance" thing they had between Susan and Caspian (how was that even remotely necessary?)

There were few redeeming qualities of this movie, but they still did exist. I did like the fact that when the which was summoned (those this technically never happened) that Edwin was the one to "destroy" her. It was a nice touch of irony. And then there was the rat and dwarf, who's names escaped me at the moment, which made the movie bearable to sit through. And, that's about it.

I might have enjoyed this movie had I not read the book in advance, but I'll never know. I guess if you haven't read the actual story then you could potentially think it once of the best movies of all time. But I definitely would not recommend this to someone who read and loved the book, it'll probably annoy you just as much as it annoyed me.

I'd also like to note something else - I saw this movie twice. This was only because I was giving it the benefit of the doubt. I thought that perhaps going in a second time without those high expectations would make the movie more enjoyable. Sadly, it did not. November 25, 2008

First one is better

This movie is nice but not even close to the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe.
Caspian doesn't have the same charm or magic as the first one and they don't follow the book at all. The acting is also def. not as good.
Al in all I was disappointed. November 23, 2008

4 1/2 Stars...Fast-paced and Fun

My childhood love of books was first ignited by the Chronicles of Narnia. I was swept away into worlds fanciful, dangerous, and often layered in symbolism. Until a few years ago, I never thought films could capture what I experienced in my own imagination.

"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was a pleasant surprise. Talking animals, the faun, and the magic of the wardrobe were all brought to life with amazing detail and warmth--or, in the case of the White Witch, chill. Despite enjoying the movie, it seemed to lack a bit of the grittier side I remembered from my own reading.

"Prince Caspian" adds that element I found missing in the first movie. Yes, it deviates from the original book quite a bit, but in all honesty, this was my least favorite book of the seven chronicles. Although liberties are taken, I believe they stay true to the heart of C.S. Lewis's writings, and they tell a stronger, more epic story. The romance element is not as heavy-handed as some have implied, and it does seem slightly forced, and yet it too seems like something possible for sons of Adam and daughters of Eve who are getting older in their Narnian roles.

From fast-paced chases, attacks, escapes, and eventually a large-scale battle with some fun effects, "Prince Caspian" is great entertainment. I can't wait for the release of "Voyage of the Dawn Treader," possibly my favorite of this series of books. Sure, there will be parts that challenge my own interpretation of the story, but there will be others--such as Reepicheep, in this one--that live up to and even surpass my expectations. I'm glad to see Lewis's magic brought to film. November 20, 2008

All Violence, Very Little Story.

I know there may be plenty of critical reviews here, but I can't resist putting my thoughts in.
I'm an avid fan of the Narnia books, I've read Prince Caspian 4 or 5 times, and I was so excited when this movie came out. About halfway into the movie however, I realized to my dismay and anger that the movie was far off course from the book itself. It had non-stop battles, there was very little conversation, the storm of the castle was completly off track and never happened. The violence was very upsetting, and I acutally thought a few of my young cousins might like this movie, but after I saw the constant war and unnessessary bloodshed, I knew my cousins could never stomach this brutality. I know this movie takes in war of course, but come on! Some of that frightening aggression was unnessessary, and never happened in the book. You can make a good war movie without overdoing the violence people.
The romance between Caspian and Susan I found absurd and maddening as there was no evidence of it in the book. I think C.S. Lewis would be appualled if he could see this movie, because they warped the message he really had. Lucy never learned in this film to obey Aslan above all else, and not listen to her siblings when they doubted her, and when the other kids disregarded her warnings and travled down the road they weren't attacked as they were in the book, they never learned that Lucy was right in her forewarning. They threw away the message of following Jesus instead of other people, and replaced it with senseless war and viciousness.
I was pretty dissapointed with this movie, and I'm not buying it. To parents, I feel strongly oppossed to this movie, and I don't think your little ones will like it nor will you. Of course that is your choice to like it, but if you like a good message and a wholesome movie, avoid this one. November 17, 2008

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