The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Having not read the books myself, I worry that I may not have the breakdown correctly, but I think it goes something like this: The film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe consists of the novels The Magician’s Nephew, The Lion the witch and the Wardrobe and The Horse and His Boy. The Film’s sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian consisted of the novels Prince Caspian, The voyage of the Dawn Treader, the Silver Chair and The Last Battle. I thought it important to include this information so that potential views would be aware that despite the fact that there are seven books, there will be no more than the two movies. My impression of this film is thus: entertaining, fantastical, and crammed. I wanted it to be so much better, knowing the intricate detail of the novels and the amazing story that it is. However my let down was not unexpected. The intriguing addition of Prince Caspian, portrayed by Ben Barnes, spiced the film with a new element and introduced the audience to a previously absent kingdom of Telmar, that which Prince Caspian should rightly rule if not for his devious and power-hungry uncle. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy return to Narnia to find their magical kingdom void of all the mystical delights they had defended 1300 years before (in Narnia time). On their quest to discover what has happened the regal children meet Prince Caspian and the foreseeable results follow: Peter and Prince Caspian become rivals while Susan and Prince Caspian form some kind of adolescent unfulfilled love affair (something that should have played a more pivotal role in the plot but was instead left to the distant margins). There were scores of new mythological creatures (being that all the other had died in the1300 years had past for all but 4 of the characters) including an agile mouse equipped with a rapier who may have been inspired by either Robin Hood or Puss in Boots: a positively delightful character. The final battle was only what could be described as traditionally entertaining, if not slightly drawn out. There are scenes clearly present merely because they occurred in one of the four novels constituted in the film. Unfortunately, they direly needed to be edited out. Unnecessary additions like these did not help the flow of the film, nor did they better tell the story. From a viewer’s perspective, there was much that clotted the story. However, despite these negative aspects, I rate the film a shaky four out of five stars because, honestly, I was entertained, and true to the form of any fantasy story, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian had a moral message about courage in the face of oblivion and selflessness over selfishness. I am a sucker for a message, especially when communicated through epic battles and talking animals.