Shawn's Prince Caspian Review

2008 Movie # 56- Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

This was one of the few movies opening this summer that I really didn't have that much interest in. I wasn't a huge fan of the first Narnia movie. I thought it was overall a very average fantasy movie that was instantly forgettable and just didn't do anything for me. Then again I have never read the Narnia books either so I have no attachment to the story. So I really wasn't all that excited for the second one. Thankfully this one is a HUGE improvement over the first movie to the point where it hardly even feels like the same series of movies.

The biggest difference between the Narnia movies seems to be the almost jarring shift in tone. The first movie is overall fairly light heartened with a few somewhat dark moments scattered here and there. The second one however, has a much darker feel to it and takes on much heavier subject matter. One thing I've always admired about the Harry Potter books/movies is that they aren't afraid to give little kids credit. They contain dark/scary moments, heavy subject matter and overall rarely pander to them, as way too many kids movies do these days. Prince Caspian follows in that same vein. It never crosses the line where it's too dark, just enough that kids can still enjoy it, as well as the adults.

There is also a shit load more action in this movie. Although it does take some time to get going, once it does it's pretty worth the wait. The final part of the movie consists of almost one long battle and it's pretty god damn epic. Even the trees get in on this shit. There's some pretty fantastic action in the last part of this movie, and for the most part everything leading up to it is still interesting although there are definitely some slower parts here and there.

The acting is overall good, although nothing really amazing. Ben Barnes does well in the role of Prince Caspian but I was reminded a little too much of Inigo Montoya at times. The four kids (although it doesn't seem right calling them kids now) do fine, with a few questionable moments here and there. Warwick Davis of course shows up here. If your movie has a midget in it, guaranteed Warwick Davis is playing him.

One slight I would have to give against this movie would be the occasional attempts at humour. I understand they are needed to counter the very dark feel the movie has throughout almost it's entire running time, but they jokes come off as very corny and the actors don't do a good job at selling them either. Maybe it was just me but anytime one of these "jokes" would show up it kind of took me out of the movie.

The other slight I would give is something I have sort of touched upon already and that is the length of the movie, which is just under 2 and a half hours. It's not a huge deal (it's actually shorter than the Sex and the City movie...pretty unfuckingbelievable huh?) as it never really gets boring, but it could use a bit of time trimmed out of it I would say. However this was not enough to ruin the movie for me.

Fans of the first Narnia should definitely enjoy this one as well, and those who didn't enjoy the first one such as myself should still give it a try. It's a huge improvement over the first movie and it actually makes me interested to see where the series will go from here.

For now though, Iron Man is still the Summer movie to beat.

****/5