The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

There were moments in Prince Caspian in which I couldn't tell if I was watching an installment of The Chronicles of Narnia or of The Lord of the Rings. The scope of the franchise has practically doubled in size since December 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. From what I can tell, that's probably a good thing.

The extra-long movie, all 147 minutes of it, is adapted and helmed by the steady hand of Andrew Adamson, who also kicked off the series with the first film. Adamson is clearly a fan of the C.S. Lewis books, and his treatment of the material brings to life all the finest elements of Narnia. Unfortunately, as any Lewis reader knows, Prince Caspian isn't quite as rich as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That being said, though, the film is quite faithful to the source material.

The Pevensies (aka, the Kings and Queens of Narnia) - Peter (William Moseley), Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Susan (Anna Popplewell) - all return for the second installment, and of course this time around, there is the addition of Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes). Caspian summons the family Pevensie when he realizes his tyrannical uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto - who, btw, looks almost eerily like King Leonidas from 300), is out to kill him for the throne. Miraz believes the Narnians are extinct, but as Caspian soon finds out, all the manimal creatures are quite alive and ready to battle! Which they do...several times.

The first hour of Prince Caspian is, to be honest, kind of a slog. It is much too slow for a film of this scope. But the problem is that there's no way around the slowness. It's been nearly three years since the first movie, so we have to get to know the characters again. And thus comes the film's biggest problem - we never know the Pevensies well enough to really care about them. Plus, we pretty much can guess the outcome of the conflict. So it seems that the first hour could have been accelerated, if only so that the second hour and a half didn't feel so rushed. The latter part of the movie picks up the pace (thank God), but is fraught with battle after battle after battle.

That's not to say that the battles are not awesome...they are quite the spectacle, actually. The entire film, for that matter, is extremely pretty. Which is exactly why it feels very Lord of the Rings-esque. I don't guess that's a bad thing, but Prince Caspian is trying too hard. It never reaches the epic proportions of Wardrobe or any of the LOTR movies. Its villain (Miraz) absolutely sucks in comparison to the White Witch. So in the end, I guess I felt a little cheated. The visual presentation is glorious, but the end result is a little muddled. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Whatever. The fantasy still overrules the weaknesses.

As far as the acting goes, well...I guess it doesn't matter. To be honest, I think the filmmakers could have cast cardboard cutouts in the roles and the fans would have been satisfied. The best of the bunch is the newcomer to the series - Barnes. Everyone else gets the job done, but not exceptionally, although Popplewell looks awesome with her bow and arrow, particularly during the climactic battle. But Moseley's interpretation of Peter is awful. As a result, Peter is hardly likable at all: He's arrogant, whiny, confrontational, and emotionless. Notably gone from the cast are James McAvoy's Mr. Tumnus and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (sure it's been 1300 years in Narnia and they're probably dead, but, you know...). However, there is a surprise appearance by one of Wardrobe's main characters. I won't spoil who it is, but it's a welcome appearance. The other additional characters are great. And Aslan, as expected, makes an honorable appearance.

VERDICT:
The first hour is tough, but after that, it becomes...a pretty good movie. Not as incredible and magnificent as Wardrobe, but still worlds better than other capitalistic sequels (see: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest). It's a movie much more enjoyable on the big screen...looking UP at the beautiful cinematography and flawless CGI as opposed to DOWN at the television adds to the magic. In the end, this is a movie that everyone sees no matter what anyone says about it, particularly if you're my age and/or a fan of the C.S. Lewis book. So should you buy a ticket? YES. 7/10