The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince CaspianListen, I'm all for a good-natured fantasy adventure that's fun for the whole family. I'll even deal with the fact that, underneath the shiny cgi talking animals, there lurks a thinly veiled Christian allegory. But the complete and utter lack of vision in Prince Caspian is absolutely confounding. And while the novel on which the film is based wasn't a very note-worthy addition to the Narnia series, my problem with this movie is ultimately threefold. You see, there were three writers who adapted this screenplay, and they all contributed nothing of value to the myth of this particular universe. They were paid to FIND the story within the novel, to bring forth it's best elements and create something new and exciting. Something that would engage the audience and transport them to a different world. Most stories, at their heart, aren't intrinsically interesting. Even the Lord of the Rings, with its elaborate mythology and confounding history, is basically about walking a ring from point A to point B. As always, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. And apparently the novel on which Prince Caspian was based couldn't inspire it's three writers to say anything original, or heartfelt, or genuine at all.
What they invariably did was to take the safest road imaginable with the script, presenting the common and cliche in as straightforward a narrative as possible. And in this film's case, safe equates to unequivocally boring. Not once was I the least bit interested in anything being shown on screen, neither the Pevensie children's rediscovering the world of Narnia 1300 years after their departure, nor Prince Caspian's plight against his wicked uncle and his fellow Telmarines. Aslan's absence from most of the film is understandable. He deserves a better Narnia than this, And Reepicheep, voiced by Eddie Izzard, is an obvious Puss N' Boots clone, only not the least bit amusing or adorable.
Even the battles were utterly pointless, borrowing the best elements from the wars in the Lord of the Rings, yet lacking ANY of the weight or magnitude that made them so compelling and fun to watch. Trees that come to life to save the day just when all hope is lost, a magical river that envelops and crushes soldiers on horseback. It's all somehow so FAMILIAR... And then there's the unremarkable score. I cannot wait to become a film composer for a particular series, because then I will have the luxury of playing a variation of the same theme I composed in the original, instead of having to write new material. I was really impressed with what the composer Harry Gregson-Williams did in the first film, and so you could imagine my frustration when I heard the same music played throughout the sequel without any new compositions besides Prince Caspian's theme.
I enjoyed the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe despite it's faults because it presented a magical world with honesty and integrity, and had the courage of it's convictions. It was by no means a classic, but it established a world unlike any other we've seen, and it did so with an energy and an innocence that recalled the spirit of the novels. Prince Caspian failed to imbue anything of resonance or merit within a story that probably wasn't even deserving of a big-screen adaptation in the first place. But Disney is an unholy cash-cow of a corporation and thus demands our money, and as long as there are gullible children who don't know any better, we'll be forced to hand it over to them time and time again. In the end, there really wasn't much to like or dislike about Prince Caspian, besides its being wholly inferior to the original. It was as average and uninspired as I feared would be, even though a part of me was expecting something with a lot more magic.
Rating: C-
This is the Regina Spektor song "The Call" that plays at the end of the film when they return home. It is, quite possibly, the only true scene in the entire movie.