Prince Caspian Always Wins

Narnia 2 is a markedly different animal from the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s certainly brasher and much more action-oriented, moving at a much faster clip than the first film ever did. But all the speed came at a price, and while the film does deliver a few grand scenes, a lack of thoughtfulness and character development strip the film of all its magic.

The Pevensie children have now been living in London for a year, after having returned from being the high rulers of Narnia. They are having trouble adjusting to the normalcy of their day-to-day lives. They are suddenly called back to Narnia, where they find that thirteen hundred years have passed, and that the kingdom that they once ruled is in ruins. Narnia, it turns out, is now ruled by a ruthless usurper to the throne, the uncle to the rightful heir, Prince Caspian, who is now leading an army of Narnians to overthrow the corrupt rule. The Pevensie children must once again go into battle to help out Prince Caspian and bring back the balance in Narnia.

The script focuses mostly on delivering action, and it does it pretty decently. It moves at a pretty good pace, and it manages to keep one’s attention for most of its remarkably long runtime. It does this, though, at the expense of character development and thematic resonance. Maybe it’s a problem of the source material itself, but the Pevensie children don’t seem to have grown as characters, despite managing to age to adulthood and ruling a kingdom. There are also seeds of pretty powerful theme in here, but the script just isn’t up to tackling any of it. This story also suffers from a crippling reliance on an almost literal deus ex machina, although you can hardly fault the film for it, given the circumstances.

The film is directed by Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two Shrek movies. His background in animation shows, as the animated characters really steal the show in this film. He just gets inventive when dealing with his animated creations, often bringing more life and expression to the film than the actual living people. Past that, however, Andrews’ filmmaking is pretty unremarkable. While the production is pretty lavish, the filmmaking comes off as rather staid. They’re aiming for an epic, magical feel here, but it just doesn’t come through, leaving a pretty mundane feel to all of it.

The cast is a mixed bag. Of the Pevensie siblings, Edmund, played by Skandar Keynes, fares the best, obviously benefitting from having spent so much time with Tilda Swinton in the first film. Anna Popplewell does well enough as Susan, being just charming enough to keep your attention. William Mosely, who plays Peter, is unable to project the pathos that his character calls for. Georgie Henley seems content to just ham it up as Lucy, and it can get annoying. The best part of the cast is Peter Dinklage, who is just fantastic in everything he’s in.

When all is said and done, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is okay, but it’s hardly noteworthy. It suffers mostly when you consider that it’s a sequel, and while it does have some charms, it just doesn’t capture the same magic that the first movie had. There are a couple of really good action sequences in this film, but all the character stuff is terribly weak. And while good action can certainly perk up a movie watching experience, it’s ultimately the character stuff that’ll make you care. I suppose if you’re a fan of the books, this film is a foregone conclusion. If you’re a kid, you may get a kick out of it. For everyone else, other films have done it better.