Reviews of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Mildly disappointing but a good sequel...

Posted : 6 days, 14 hours ago on 1 January 2010 05:21 (A review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

This film is a good sequel to a great fantasy film and also the Narnia franchise. Prince Caspian is very different compared to The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe because it is darker, features new characters and a new age for Narnia. What I mean with new age for Narnia is that after 1500 years since the Pevensies were there, it has been taken over by the Telmarines. It was like a dream world in the first film but in the second one it still has mythical creatures within it but it is like the world is today. Watch Prince Caspian was more like entering the real world but it was like the pre-historical creatures before and now the Earth is ruled by us. That is where there is a close similarity between the two Narnia films and human life now. This film not only has an even bigger take-on with Lord Of The Rings with the action epic scenes but also the events within some genres. The genre that are in Prince Caspian but not in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe are romance. It is a shame that we didn't see Mr. Tumnus nor the beavers in it because I love them. Scary that only 1 year passes in normal time and 1,500 years pass in Narnia time. The flaws that this film has was the lack of Aslan's involvement especially when he is a main character within the Narnia world, the lack of involvement with Lucy Pevensie, slow dialogue and a bit of a muddle on occasions that had some pointless and irrelevant scenes but still a really good film to watch.


The acting was really good from the youngest ones once again. Skandar Keynes goes from a little boy to almost a grown man. Georgie Henley isn't a cute tiny little girl anymore. She is still cute but she is almost as tall as her older co-star Anna Popplewell who is 7 or 8 years older. That is just like seeing Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson grow up in the Harry Potter series. I am glad it is the last time we will be seeing William Moseley and Anna Popplewell as Peter and Susan Pevensie because they were awful again. Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian didn't makes things better because I didn't think Caspian acted like a hero. He was more of a complete idiot. Ben's accent was quite annoying and got on my nerves at times. The romance between him and Susan drove me crazy! He will be in the next Narnia film: The Chronicles Of Narnia: Dawn Of The Voyage Treader. King Miraz was a good villainous character because he acts like a typical rich king of the past who wanted a son as an heir just like Henry VIII. He behaves a bit like Scar too from The Lion King because he killed his brother but wants to kill his nephew Prince Caspian to get to the throne. Liam Neeson returns as the voice of Aslan, dwarf Warwick Davis appears Tilda Swinton makes a one-scene reappearance as the White Witch. Instead of Tumnus with James McAvoy, Mr. Beaver with Ray Winstone and Mrs. Beaver with Dawn French there is Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep, Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin and David Walliams as the bulgy bear.


Andrew Adamson directs this film in pretty much the same way he did with the previous film with an epic family style which is rare of a family fantasy film. The script is very unoriginal because it is adapted from a novel into a motion picture that tries to outdo Lord Of The Rings.


The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian is another blockbuster of 2008 that everyone would seem to enjoy. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first one but I did find Prince Caspian more adult and grown up which makes it a good film to watch that is just entertaining nothing more.

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Another fantasy adaptation...

Posted : 1 year ago on 19 December 2008 09:05 (A review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

''You're a mouse.''

''You people have no imagination! ''


The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are enlisted to once again help ward off an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land's throne, Prince Caspian.


Ben Barnes: Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian is the 2nd installment of the Narnia series following The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
What follows is the Pevensie returning to Narnia after one year has passed for them, they possess all the memories of them growing up as Kings and Queens.
They return to Narnia to find it a new and changed land having endured a gap of 1300 years without them.

We are treated to a new people in the form of the non-magical, Elizabethan Spanish-like, depicted Telmarines.
Prince Caspian played by Ben Barnes, has an exotic Spanish flavoured accent that sounds more like Antonio Banderas. He's a handsome young new comer and a fine addition to a vibrant array of casting.
Sergio Castellitto as King Miraz Caspian's murderous Uncle is a good villain, ruthless and power hungry.

A battle between good and evil takes place in Caspian. Due to the duel aspect of the final battle, the writers decided to add a more straightforward siege to compensate for the machine warfare at the conclusion.
The scene reminiscent of a Minas Tirith battle from Return of the King, adds some nice weight and action, allowing the plot to progress a tad faster and be more interesting than without.

By utilizing it as a chance to show the fallibilities of both Caspian and Peter, it lends more credibility to the idea of resurrecting a former evil to help in the fight against the tyrant Miraz.

Caspian bears alot of similarities to Rings for examples the Telmarines look like Gondor people visually and we have Trees fighting and helping, not to mention a man made of water at a river scene that looked like Arwen's scene in Fellowship.
Although Caspian succeeds in feeling more darker and adult to it's predecessor The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which was lighter, colourful and more kiddish and magic laden.

Directed once again by quaint director Andrew Adamson who utilizes the land of New Zealand with it's lovely landscapes and settings to breathe life into Prince Caspian the fabled story by Brit C.S Lewis.

Incredible creatures, immense battles, a mysterious Aslan and a White Witch trying to claw her way back into the realms of Narnia. Prince Caspian delivers a family film which can be loved by lovers of the books or family fantasy enthusiasts alike.

Pending Changes...

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Just a repetition of the first one

Posted : 1 year ago on 17 December 2008 07:09 (A review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

For me it was just a repetition of the first one: fights, strange creatures and that's all...

And if it's supposed to be for children, it's too violent (although there isn't any blood :D). Otherwise it's too childish, silly. So the viewer doesn't know what public this movie wants to reach.



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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian review

Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 4 July 2008 10:14 (A review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)

I had been looking forward to this movie for a long time. I loved The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe - the cast, the score, the cg animals, it was just as I had always imagined Narnia to be. And it’s unusual that I’m not angry at first by a movie adaptation of a book that I hold so dearly. Needless to say, I had high expectation for Caspian.

And coming away from the movie, I have to say that I loved it. Loved it. There were parts that made me angry, but overall, it was wonderful, and beautiful, and everything that I expected.

First, I need to get something off my chest about it. I did not like the casting choice of Caspian. I still have the image of Jean-Marc Perret’s Caspian in my head, and the Caspian in this adaptation was too old for my liking - he’s 13 in the books, and I prefer him that age. It gives the story more innocence. Also, I didn’t enjoy the whole Susan/Caspian thing going on. I can understand that they need to get the teenage girl audience into watching this movie, but still… Narnia does not need romance to make it good and exciting.

Susan and Peter are my least favourite characters in the Narnia series, and this movie certainly did not change that feeling towards them on the whole. Peter seemed more cocky than normal, and what was up with him leading the troops into Miraz’s castle? Anyone could see that it was a disaster waiting to happen. (People totally need to listen to what Lucy says more often.) In the movies I feel rather indifferent to Susan, which I suppose is better than the dislike I have towards her in the books. She had some beautiful scenes, but it wasn’t enough to make me really like her.

They changed the order of how things happened compared to the book; I can understand why they did it for the most part - wanted to get as many scenes as possible with our kids in them, and whatnot. But it was a little surprising at first. I wish that more of the kids had seen Aslan like they do in the books, on their journey to Aslan’s How… but I can understand that if they had done that, then they couldn’t have Peter storming the castle, and that would’ve taken away half the battle scenes in the movie. Wish Aslan was in it more. But with them taking away all the Christian message in the first movie, it was rather surprising that it felt very Christian when Lucy finally did meet up with Aslan… I don’t remember exactly what it was, but there was something about their conversation.

I love that Warwick Davis was Nikabrik this time around! Warwick Davis is brilliant, and I love how he played an evil character in this adaptation, when in the BBC adaptation he played Reepicheep. Quite the change, and he did evil so well!

I still love Skandar Keynes as Edmund. As one of my favourite Narnian characters, I am so happy that they made such a wonderful choice in actors. He’s a brilliant Edmund! I just hope their casting for Eustace Scrubb is as good as their casting for Edmund.

The score was still lovely, though they totally reused some songs from the first movie. Loved Switchfoot’s song during the credits. Will need to buy that at some point in time.

Overall, a fabulous movie. Again, some things really bothered me, but it was beautiful for the most part! Beautiful! Will be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

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