Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Review

Dwarfs, lions, badgers, and mice with swords; these are a few of the things I've seen while riding the back of a minator.

Okay, I didn't really do that, but I did watch the second installment/adaptation of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series; The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian. I must say, I wasn't dissappointed, but my jaw wasn't on the floor either.

We pick up one year after the first film ends, and Peter, Lucy, Edmund, and Susan are still adjusting to being back from Narnia. While in a train station, they are transported back to Narnia, but not the one they remember.

1,300 years have passed in relation to their one. Since then, the Telmarines have taken over, and wiped the Narnias almost out of existence. Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) is the nephew of the Telmarine eventual ruler, Miraz (Sergio Castellito), but finds that he has no more use since the birth of Miraz's son. What ensues is a fight of revenge for Caspian, as well as the Narnians, along with the aid of their High Kings and Queens.

I will warn, I didn't read the book, so I'm not too sure how accurate the film is in relation to it.

What I can tell you is that this film does have some very good visuals, and the acting is good. Andrew Adamson returns to the Narnia directing chair, and does a good job as well.

I did notice that the Telmarines had a middle eastern/Persian look to them, along with the helmets they wore (they resemble what Muslim soliders wore during the Crusades). I also noticed that the High Kings and Queens were of European descent, and wore the garb and armorment becoming that of a Crusader, which makes me think that this may be Adamson's touch and opinion on The Crusades. Nothing wrong with that, it is his film to put a little artistic, opinionated touch on (I do realize that the books have a lot of Christian allusion, illusion, and imagery to them thanks to Lewis, so this may explain this coincidence as well).

One will also notice that one Telmarine general bares a striking resemblence to a late Iraqi dictator.

While one is watching this, one may think, "I've seen this somewhere before," because you probably have. I couldn't help but think that I was watching the Two Towers from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The way the Telmarines are dressed in armor and march reminds me of the Orcs from Jackson's film. In fact, the entire film I can see, almost feels like a less bloody, watered down version of The Two Towers. That was really my biggest problem with the film. I understand directors copy each other on certain things, and imitation is the best form of flattery, but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

Overall though, I can't say I hated this movie, I actually liked it. It did have its short coming, and those "that sure was convenant" moments, but this is a movie directed to kids, tweens, and teens. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are good, and Aslan is God...sorry if I spoiled that for you.

The acting, especially by the children, is surprisingly good, and I can only hope these young thesbians don't go the way of some other promising Hollywood teem actors and former actors. This is a movie I can recommend to the whole family. The violence is on par, if not lower than, that of the Pirates of the Carribean movies. The language is clean, and the fighting has enough tension to it to hold the younger and older audiences alike.

I give Prince Caspian 3.5 stars out of 5.