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"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" Review

by Jane Boursaw on May 17th, 2008

This second installment of C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” series is visually beautiful, though a bit long at 144 minutes. In fact, it’s way too long – and violent – for kids younger than 9 or 10. I enjoyed the movie, but my 11-year-old daughter grew bored and fidgety, saying she wished the storyline included more of “the kids” and less of everything else. There was a LOT of “everything else” in this movie.

The story begins with the birth of a baby in the kingdom of Narnia — only now the land is ruled by the Telmarines, a race of humans led by the ruthless Lord Miraz (Sergio Catellitto). The new baby is his official heir, meaning he no longer needs his nephew, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), to advance to the throne.

More after the jump…

Under the threat of death, Caspian rushes away on horseback in the dark of night, with Miraz’ men in hot pursuit. In a nearby woods, Caspian encounters assorted Narnian creatures, thought to be extinct for hundreds of years.

In fact, 1300 years have passed since the first movie, and the Golden Age of Narnia is long gone. Under the rule of Miraz, the magical talking animals, walking trees, and mythical creatures of Narnia are only folk tales to the Telmarines. And the mighty lion Aslan has not been seen in a thousand years.

Meanwhile, the Pevensie children – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) — have been living in World War II era England for a year. (One year of their time equals 1300 years of Narnian time.)

In an underground train station near Trafalgar Square, a surreal wind blows up, and the kids are magically transported to a beautiful, sunny beach in Narnia. After a bit of frolicking in the surf, they explore the land and are shocked to learn that the Narnia they knew is long gone, replaced by wild animals and overgrown ruins. One of their first encounters is with Trumpkin, a crusty Red Dwarf, who tells them, “You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember.” He’s played by Peter Dinklage, who is now officially one of my favorite actors.

The kids are quickly drawn into the task at hand, having been summoned by Prince Caspian (using the horn Susan left behind in the first movie) to restore honor to the land – something they’ll have to do on their own, now that Aslan is nowhere in sight.

In addition to Trumpkin, they get lots of help from other Narnian creatures who’ve been in hiding: Reepicheep, a swashbuckling mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard), Trufflehunter, the faithful badger (voiced by Ken Stott), Nikabrik, the suspicious Black Dwarf (Warwick Davis), Glenstorm, the leader of the centaurs (Sir Trevor Nunn), and aging minotaur Asterius (Shane Rangi).

I like this movie slightly better than the first one. I love Dinklage’s curmudgeonly character, and also love that the Pevensie girls are strong and independent. Susan bravely takes out the bad guys with her bow and arrow, and Lucy never waivers in her faith in Aslan. The landscape is stunning, and in one scene where the children are floating down a cavernous river with lush growth and waterfalls, I wanted to climb through the movie screen and go there. The film was shot in New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.

The filmmakers could have cut about 20 minutes, and the film would have been all the better for it. Also, the battle scenes and fighting really pushed a PG-13 rating. When we saw this movie in the theater, the majority of the audience was kids 5 and younger, who really shouldn’t have been there.

For older kids and adults, though, this movie is an enjoyable way to escape into a different world for a couple of hours.

Theatrical Trailer: