The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell
Director: Andrew Adamson
145 Minutes
Walt Disney
2008
Rating: M15+

After what was a surprisingly well balanced and reasonably close adaptation of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, one could have hoped that this follow up would be decent. However, when large studios like Walt Disney invest and capitalize on such classic stories, that hope is usually misplaced as is the case with Prince Caspian.

Prince Caspian, as the nephew of Miraz, the tyrannical usurper of the throne, has fled for his life knowing that his uncle would rather have his newborn son take the throne than him. He flees to the forest, in the hope of finding the Narnians in order to restore the land, having been educated by his tutor about the true history of Narnia. The four Pevensie children are "called" back to Narnia, this time to help re-establish order and what is effectively the rightful monarchy in the land as Aslan had ordained it in the beginning.

The acting from the entire cast was convincing, all their performances very measured and natural. Both William Moseley and Skandar Keynes, despite their age, showed some subtle regality and aggression in their roles as Peter and Edmund respectively. Anna Popplewell (as Susan) conveyed the practical side of her character as always while Georgie Henley, despite having grown somewhat since the last film, delivered convincingly a sense of purity that is true to the character of Lucy. Ben Barnes also played his role as the young prince well, showing his character's desire to do what is right despite his upbringing. Perhaps the performance most worthy of mention is Italian veteran Sergio Castellitto as Miraz, who played his character with the right temperament, with passion and intensity.

As expected, some liberties are taken when transcribing a book to the screen. In some instances, probably the minority, it may even be for the better. However, in Prince Caspian, that is unfortunately not the case. Without writing detailed spoilers, it would be sufficient to say that too many elements were condensed (if not omitted) or reshuffled, as well as there being a few significant additions to the plot. The result is that many sequences were 'faster' and more 'exciting' than it needed to be while others became out of sync chronologically and perhaps some even became less exciting, losing the original sense of urgency. In any case, it did not quite capture the essence of the original storyline. Also unnecessary were the few cheesy romantic elements between Susan and Caspian (i.e. "Keep it [referring to Susan's horn], in case you need to call me." What were the writers thinking?!) as also the tension between Peter and Caspian. Perhaps the worse reduction is how the children and the dwarf found their way through the forest with Lucy being the only one initially seeing Aslan while the others only came to see him gradually as written in the original text. Lewis' message would be one of the Beatitudes which Christ taught, "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." The character of Lucy is certainly the most innocent and pure and that part of the narrative was a significant chunk of the story, literally and theologically. To have that part compacted is almost sacrilege. Aslan's appearance was also downgraded; as if they couldn't have paid Liam Neeson to say a few more lines and the animators to render a few more frames.

The cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub (Stargate) with editing by Josh Campbell and Sim Evan-Jones (The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe) were generally very well done in all areas, for the action sequences or otherwise. It was in many ways very conventional but overall very balanced. The score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Kingdom Of Heaven) was very similar to the previous film which included no shortage of epic, sweeping orchestral pieces. Perhaps it could have been less dramatic.

While the performances were strong and the film very well produced technically, the narrative was somewhat butchered. As a piece of entertainment for the family without any consideration for the book, it is not too bad - but that is saying not much. Granted it must be difficult to adapt C.S. Lewis' ingenuity but his work must be taken into account when judging this film and the narrative certainly falls much shorter than it should have, not quite capturing the deeper subtleties of the original text.