THE CHRONICLES OF NARIA
PRINCE CASPIAN

"For Narnia"

A year has past since Peter (Moseley), Susan (Popplewell), Edmund (Keynes) and Lucy (Henley) came back from Narnia but one year for them has been over a thousand for magical land. Now the world is ruled by man, with the invading Telmarine wiping out the inhabitants of Narnia after the disappearances of their royal family and when Aslan (Neeson) left the land. The only hope is Prince Caspian (Barnes), the heir to the Telmarine throne but his uncle Miraz (Castellitto) has other plans. Fleeing for his life, Caspian escapes to the forest and discovers that mythical creatures of Narnia might not be wiped out after all.

The second adaptation of the beloved C.S. Lewis Narnia novels comes to the silver screen but this is a much darker, more savage place than you might remember.

After the success of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', it was inevitable that Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media would continue telling the Narnia stories on the silver screen. Moving onto the second novel 'Prince Caspian', the companies are still hoping that these movies will become as commercial successful as the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy. With epic battles, weird and wonderful creatures and a splash of magic, the land of Narnia is definitely a place were cinema can run wild and bathe in the adventure and for fans of the C.S. Lewis novels, the second film certainly does that.

Picking up a year after their first trip to Narnia, the Pevensie siblings are pulled back into the magical land again but this is not the Narnia they left behind. Over thousand years have passed since they last visited but the Narnia they remember has gone to be replaced by a land ruled by man and one that is no place for magical creatures or fabled kings and queens of old. The Telmarine invaded after the disappearance of the Pevensie's and Aslan, leading to the slaughter of most of the creatures and forcing the survivors into hiding. One thousand, three hundred years later and the Telmarine King Miraz has just had a son, putting the young heir Prince Caspian in danger but as he faces his greatest battle and surviving creatures of Narnia face extinction, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy return to Narnia to raise an army to fight tyrannical human king.

The story certainly takes a different tone than 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', with humans becoming the evil, instead of the 'White Witch' and it also sees a progression in the Narnian chronicles. While this certainly isn't the Narnia equivalent of 'The Two Towers', this movie certainly pushes the franchise into 'The Lord of the Rings' territory. The second adaptation also sees the growth of Peter and Susan, as their sense of responsibility, as the older Pevensie children, is tested to the limit. The film also sees the growth of Edmund and Lucy, even though they don't get as much screen time as their older brother and sister but they have adventures still to come. The main growth however is in Narnia itself, as this is now a savage place, one that shows the true motivations of man and their intolerance of anything different, paralleling the real world when C.S. Lewis wrote the book and it is still relevant now.

The performances match the growth of the story. Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell mature into their roles of Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan, with Moseley and Popplewell, showing that they might have a career after these movies. Peter Dinklage brings a piece of class to the proceedings as Trumpkin and Sergio Castellitto revels in the villainous role of Miraz. The vocal cast is also good with Eddie Izzard stealing every scene as the sword-fighting mouse Reepicheep and Liam Neeson is as good as ever as Aslan. It is Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian who is meant to make the biggest impact however and for the most part he does. You can't argue that he fits the dashing prince role and he definitely enjoys himself in the action scenes but Hollywood will need to see him in a little more to decide if he could be the next big thing.

'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' is a definite improvement on 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. Director Andrew Adamson gets to grips more with the Narnian universe and delivers more intense battles and a much better adaptation of C.S. Lewis's world. Narnia has now become a much more fascinating place.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

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2008