I am a huge sucker for sweeping epics that involve amazing imagery and CG effects. I love being a part of a movie that its scope and reach is so far beyond my little world, it’s a great place to get lost in and forget the world we live in now. The Chronicles of Narnia is that kind of movie for me. I have read all of the novels and completely lost myself in the world with the Pevensie children and the Narnians, and never really wanted to come back to my world, and I think that’s a good effect that movies like this can have on you.

But, with all of its wonder and “bigness” I think the true magic of the Narnia films finds itself in the minutia of the characters and their emotional development. I love that these movies revolve around 4 seemingly young kids, because their innocence is so attractive and it lessens the jadedness that an adult would have dealing with all of the situations the Pevensie children go through. Can you imagine watching the Narnia films starring Mel Gibson, Johnny Depp, Julia Roberts, and Meg Ryan?? What an emotionally draining movie that would be, but through the eyes of 4 kids, we can handle it, we accept the talking animals, trees, and ice witches, we can connect with them.

It’s going to be natural for me to compare this movie to the last, and in doing so, I must say, that I actually preferred the first Narnia over this one. I say that with a slight, “but” because I feel like in any “movie series” the first and the last are most times (I didn’t say ALL THE TIME) always going to be the better films comparatively, because the first one is in its own category, it’s the debut of a story we have imagined in our heads for years, so by default, it will always reign as the best…until we arrive at the end. The last movie in a series closes up the chapter, it ends the story, it seemingly ties the strings together, it’s a very anticipatory movie; everyone looks SO MUCH forward to seeing how a story will end. So, all that to say, that I don’t want to compare this one or the rest to come with the FIRST one, I will just compare the newest installments to the previous ones until I reach the end.

Standing on its own feet, Prince Caspian is a really good war movie. Yes, a children’s fantasy war movie. At nearly 2 and a half hours long, this movie is essentially 90% fighting scenes with about 5% Narnian magic, and 5% human feelings. I don’t mean that in a purely negative fashion, I’m just saying that this was a very war laden movie. For the first 20 or 30 minutes or so, they setup the story with the Pevensie children being called back to Narnia 1300 years later to help the underground Narnians fight off the Tel Marine’s, and then they let the amazingly beautiful effects team dream up big war scenes that take place at the Tel Marine castle, the Narnian base (which is a big cave dwelling built around the Stone Table which I thought was a very nice touch in leaving it in tact), and along the river where we get to see Aslan in action.

The action in and of itself was enough to make me see the movie and I’ll probably see it again just for that, but it was ultimately the Narnia lore and history that kept me engaged. I will say that you should really read the books first to truly understand the world of Narnia because the movies haven’t and will never be able to fully capture this world on film. I’m not saying that if you haven’t read them you won’t enjoy the movies, because they do give you enough story and background to keep you informed, but it would definitely add to your experience. A lot of people have argued and complained about the differences between the book and the films and the lack of material added or the creative shortcuts the filmmakers have taken, and I’d like to use a quote one of my commenters “johnny thunder” wrote about the comparisons between film and book:

“the problem with a lot of adaptations is that people can’t separate themselves from the original context if they read the book first. in a lot of cases the movie is supposed to be different. sometimes the book can’t be directly translated and in other cases the author just wanted to do something different with the different media. of course the movie isn’t going to be like the book, it’s not a book. it’s a movie. moving media is always going to be different than reading because it takes away the imagination that you use when you read the book…”

I think you need to watch a movie for the movie, don’t walk into a movie thinking you’re going to see a visual book, because I agree with “johnny” in that your imagination and what you dreamed up while reading the book won’t EVER come close to what the filmmakers dream up, it’s just not going to happen. That being said, I didn’t like the inclusion of a part of Susan’s character that wasn’t in the books and doesn’t make sense to who Susan really is. I won’t reveal it but if you watch the movie and have read the books, you’ll see what I am talking about. I thought it was a cheap ploy by the 2008 filmmakers to modernize a sweet and innocent tale.

Prince Caspian is a very good summer film that honestly keeps you entertained both with stunning imagery and effects, and contains some real heartfelt performances from some young actors. Not to be forgotten though were the performances behind the images: the voice actors! Take for instance my favorite Narnia character Reepicheep, I thought he was by far the better, if not the best, character in Prince Caspian. They could have went the way of “Pussy In Boots” like in Shrek, but no, they, both Lewis and the filmmakers, created a rat that is intense, loyal, trustworthy, sarcastic, and ready to die for his people! I loved him in this movie! Watch out for him…

Don’t miss this movie! Go see it in the theaters to truly experience the world of Narnia.

Content Warning: Rated PG for epic battle action and violence. It’s Narnia, there is a lot of war violence, but very little to no blood. Take your kids.

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