Anyone who knows me knows that I love C.S. Lewis' classic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. To be fair, I haven't always been a fan. Back in 2005, I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and was extremely disappointed. I had as a child been a fan of the now terribly dated BBC mini-series and I was looking forward to seeing what modern technology could do for the film. The recent successes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter films also lead me to raise my expectations for the film. I ultimately left the cinema with a "Meh.." feeling.Three years went by, and my care factor for the Narnia series was well and truly at zero. Then in June this year, one week before the cinematic release of Prince Caspian, I found that LWW was going to be on television that night. I had nothing else to do, so I stayed in and watched the film. Against my prior expectations, I absolutely loved it! I loved every second of it, and the film instantly became one of my favourites. Perhaps it was the three previous years of hating the film that lowered my expectations so much that I was always bound to enjoy it more the second time round, but I don't care. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an incredibly good film. Worth particular mention is the brilliantly epic score by Harry Gregson-Williams, but more on that later.
Needless to say I was at the cinema on opening day to see Prince Caspian, and I absolutely thrived on it. I came out of the cinema thinking that in all honesty, the film was the closest thing any film had been to the epic nature and fantasy flavour of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I enjoyed it that much. I rated it 5 stars (much to the disgust of my friend Simon.)
Fly forward five months and I am slipping the Prince Caspian DVD into my player. I knew I was going to enjoy it and I'm guessing by now you know I did enjoy it, so I'll just rave about it for a while.
Prince Caspian picks up with the four Pevensie Children - Peter (William Mosely), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) - one year after they returned to England from the magical world of Narnia at the end of the previous film. While waiting at a train station, the children are magically transported back to Narnia, albeit 1300 years later in Narnian time. They find that they have been summoned by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) the rightful King of the Telmarines, a race of people currently being led by his evil Uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). The Telmarines have taken over the land that once belonged to the creatures of Narnia, and Caspian takes it upon himself (with some help from the Pevensies) to defeat Miraz and restore Narnia to its rightful inhabitants. Also in the mix is the all-powerful lion Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson), the Lord and protector of Narnia.
In typical Lewis form, the plot is thin, leaving room for the film-makers imaginations to run wild. As with the previous film, the director here is Andrew Adamson (Shrek and Shrek 2), and Adamson has once again given viewers two and a half hours of pure escapism and spectacle. If I don't try to structure this review, I'm just going to ramble on, so here we go.
The acting in the film is average, but these films aren't about performance. Don't get me wrong, the whole cast does a fine job, but let's face it, there ain't gonna be any acting Oscars for Prince Caspian. The standout of the cast is once again Georgie Henley as Lucy. Henley was brilliant in the previous film at only 8 years of age, and she is developing into a talented young actress. The most important addition to the cast is Ben Barnes as Caspian, but Barnes struggles to convey anything through his painful Spanish accent. I will admit that Barnes' performance has grown on me since my first viewing of the film, so perhaps I should stop my critique of his performance here. Sergio Castellitto does a great job as villain Miraz, but his character has neither the menace or subtlety of Tilda Swinton's LWW villain The White Witch.
The special effects in the film are state of the art. CGI is only used where completely necessary, and even full-CGI characters are completely believable, especially warrior-mouse Reepicheep (voice of Eddie Izzard). The only special effects nitpick I have is that the animation of Aslan was much more convincing in LWW, although the work here is still head and shoulders above the CGI in most other films. By now everyone knows that Lewis wrote Aslan as a metaphor/allusion to Jesus, and this connection particularly gives Christian viewers an added depth to the film.
The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is once again awe-inspiring. Gregson-Williams expertly revisits the excellent themes from the previous film, while also building upon them with music ranging from many different cultures, to portray how Narnia has diversified over the centuries. It is disappointing to note that Gregson-Williams will not be composing the next Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and will be replaced by Bond composer David Arnold. Although Arnold is an accomplished composer, here's hoping that he is wise enough to keep Gregson-Williams established themes in place, as I for one would be highly disappointed if those themes did not appear.
Standout sequences are a night-time raid on Miraz castle, depicting the creatures of Narnia laying siege to a gothic fortress. This sequence was not in the original text, but it is a welcome addition. Another brilliant scene is the final battle between the Narnians and the Telmarines, beginning with a one-on-one duel between Peter and Miraz, and ending with the appearance of a Poseidon-like water spirit. Both these sequences prove that Adamson has improved upon his already impressive abilites as an action director. Unfortunately Adamson will not be directing the next sequel, and directing duties will fall upon Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough). Luckily Adamson will remain on a producer, so perhaps some of his interpretation of Narnia will remain. I for one am very much looking forward to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but I am incredibly thankful for the two Narnia films that Adamson has given us. Long live Aslan!
VERDICT:
A brilliant film which can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It's fun, it's thrilling, it's entertaining, it's funny; it's everything you could want from a film. See it now!
RATING:
5 out of 5
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