Review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

On: Thursday, May 22, 2008


Last night the wife and I went to see a movie for the first time since we had Madeline. I was fine and the wife was distracted with wondering how Madeline was. It was the first time she has been away from her for more than 20 minutes or so. Overall I think the night went well.

Now on to the movie.

I know no one wants to read some over analyzed movie review from an amateur, so I'll keep it short. The movie was very good. Was it the best I've ever seen? No, but it brings into "reality" what the characters and story line was really about and more believable "kid" battles (real life: peter is 21 years old and edmund is 16). Oh sure they changed some things, but did you expect it to rigidly stick to the book? No movie ever does... What I liked was the character casting, battles, and sword play which were surprisingly convincing and the cgi was good, especially the court yard battle scene when the minotaur was- oops! Don't wanna give it away! And the characters were spot on! The spiritual aspect was there, yet you had to work out for yourself some of it.

In a day and age were epic movies are really getting good, some might not think this is a big deal. Compared to some movies it is not as dark, yet darker than others. I would say this is not a children's movie as the books are children's books; the movie is rife with violence (with out the goriness), anger, high body count, and the sometimes whimsical way in which it portrays killing. If you let your kids watch LOTR and Harry Potter, this movie probably will not be an issue with you and yours; especially if your kids watch 300. You know who you are...

Overall, I really liked it and wanna see it in the theaters again. It was pretty freakin sweet; a childhood story brought to life in a way that I can appreciate it as an adult.

4 comments on "Review of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"

SQLFunkateer said...

Hehe, I'll have to watch it with an open mind. I'm terribly intolerant about "screenwriter's license". Here was my review, or rather, rantview on the first movie:

http://neufunk.blogspot.com/2005/12/just-watched-waldendisneys-film.html

And here I diagram some tactical thoughts from the above review:

http://neufunk.blogspot.com/2006/01/ok-this-is-tremendously-ugly-in-visio.html

Percussivity said...

Ah you have opened old wounds... not about L,W and the W. That film was a rather disappointing adaptation of a well written work of fantasy by a master craftsman. No... I refer to the brutal rape of The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philipa Boyens should be charged for what they did with that script. I feel a rant coming on... Quickly, Robin.. to the Blog Cave...

The Unabashed Blogger said...

I have pretty much accepted that no movie will ever be as good as the book in which it was based on. I watch them and tend to consider them a different point of view type retelling.
What I DO like about the movies is the way they can bring the characters into life. The centaurs and minotaurs and such are WAY cooler than the goofy little illustrations in the chapter headings of the Narnia series.
So once I watch a movie I reread the book and tend to enjoy it more because the characters aren't just a blond, freckeled boy of about 16 , instead I have a clear picture. Especially the Harry Potter movies. I take the look and apply that to the voices on the AudioBooks. Way more entertaining than trying to visualize Voldemort's nasty snake face and ending up with something out of an Egyptian hieroglyph.

Low Expectations... Have you read my blog pic? It's kinda a motto these days...

Percussivity said...

I would agree in most cases and I admitedly wasn't really that distraught at the first Narnia movie from a book purist's standpoint... but The Lord of the Rings is one example where it was very hard to hear the dialog mutilated like it was (the scenery and music and action were all great and a LOT was captured well in the film, but for me it is Tolkien's dialog that makes the book stand out).

Oh another good example where the movie script rewrite completely negated what made the book so special is Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams was a master at comedic timing and phrasing and the directors should have preserved as much as possible his exact wording of the characters' lines... but they did it their own way and it fell flat.