To start this review off, I just want to say that I’ve been anticipating this film for a long time. Ever since the first one was released I’ve followed every bit of news, stayed up on my computer to see the release of the trailers, and yes, I know I’m a nerd. The last few months of anticipation have been nerve-racking; and as I sat in the theater seat at midnight with my satyr costume on, I could barely believe that I was finally goint to see it. We saw the movie, got home around 4 in the morning, slept in until 1, and then went to the 2:30 showing. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it; and I’m proud to say that unlike my father, I didn’t fall asleep (he liked it too, he’s just not a late-night person).
Prince Caspian, unlike The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, does not follow the book to the letter. In fact, it departs fairly far from it. However, this made for a far better film, in my opinion. The film’s makers dealt with the book’s huge structural challenges very well; and for any of you worrying, the Christian themes are still apparent. In fact, the theme of losing and regaining faith seems even stronger in the movie than in the book.
The film opens with King Miraz’s son being born, which results in the attempted murder of Caspian—the rightful heir to the Telemarine throne. However, thanks to his professor Cornelius, Caspian escapes into the forest and a grand chase scene ensues. Caspian soon runs into Nikabrikk and Trumpkin, two dwarves, and while Trumpkin goes off to fight the Telemarine soldiers, Nikabrikk tries to kill Caspian. This prompts him to blow Queen Susan’s horn, which Cornelius gave him before he rode off. Nikabrikk ends up knocking him out. He is cared for by the badger Trufflehunter; and if you’ve read the book, you pretty much know the rest.
There were some large changes to the storyline of the book, but the spirit of the book remains intact. Some of the changes were very beneficial. For example, the Telemarine political conflict that is only mentioned in the book is fully fleshed-out in the movie. One gets a true sense of the tension involved, and the political feel is decidedly Roman. Another change is the conflict between Caspian and Peter, which also seems to aid the story. At the beginning of the movie, Peter is very domineering. This makes sense, as he is still adjusting from being High King in Narnia to being just an ordinary kid again in England. Once he returns to Narnia, his feeling of duty as High King comes back all at once; and he refuses to listen to wise council. This results in the death of hundreds of soldiers (for those avoiding spoilers, I won’t go into detail). Peter obviously undergoes a change and by the end of the movie, he is willing to accept Caspian and has regained his senses. This all adds to the theme of regaining faith.
If you’ve been following any of the news, you know that there have been many rumors of a Caspian/Susan romance appearing in the film. Let me reassure you, it isn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be; and honestly, I don’t think it’s a big deal to begin with. In order to not give away anything, I won’t go into any more detail there either.
The final change that I will mention also involves Susan. In the book, she is known as Queen Susan the Gentle; but in the movie, she isn’t gentle at all. When rescuing Trumpkin in the book, Susan purposely aims to only hit the soldier in the helmet. In the movie, she shoots to kill and does so several times later in the movie. When I saw her jump off her horse and proceed to pick off several Telemarine soldiers as they rode toward her, I couldn’t help but think that this isn’t the Susan from the book. Regardless, this Susan’s pretty cool, too.
All of the special effects are great in the movie. Reepicheep is amazing in both animation and character. The duel between Miraz and Peter is very well done, as is the final battle scene. Overall, I believe it is a much better picture than the previous installment. I don’t know what it was about the first movie, but it didn’t “move” me emotionally very much. Other than when Aslan was killed, the film was pretty happy. In contrast, the Narnia in Prince Caspian is much darker, and the film is much better. I walked out of the theater both times, with a true sense of emotion. I’ll be honest, the film was sad. Seeing Peter and Susan leave Narnia for the last time was depressing, but knowing that Edmund and Lucy would be coming back was somewhat heartening. I liked the film, and I’ll be anxiously waiting for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to come out in a couple of years.
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