Who's in It: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage
The Basics: The kids go back to Narnia (one year later, but 1,300 years later in Narnia time) to help Prince Caspian defeat the evil Telmarines and make the place safe for all Narnians again. But where's Jesus-Lion Aslan to help them? Nowhere to be found, unless you're youngest and most faith-possessing Lucy and you can see him when no one else can.
What's the Deal? That sense of magical otherness that greets you on your first visit to an enchanted land of icy witches and all-seeing animal pals is pretty much impossible to recapture on your second pass through. So it's smart of the movie to dig deeper into the heroic action stuff. And if you don't know to look for them, then you'll take this double-edged fable that's full of biblical references at face value and just enjoy all the epic battling. Whether it's good or bad to be ignorant of the Bible isn't really for me to say.
Title-Guy Problem: Barnes as Prince Caspian is kind of an empty shell and spends the whole film with a wooden expression of grim determination on his face. It's really the continuation of the Pevensie kids' story anyway. You're on Caspian's side, of course, but if he didn't have four protectors backing him up, you might not care as much.
Scene-Stealing By: Eddie Izzard, who voices a highly confident mouse warrior. I have no idea if this is in the original book. I'm going to guess not. But still, he's really funny.
Hey, Parents: For those of you lulled into a false sense of security with the PG rating, you should know that people get killed left and right in this thing, and it's full of war violence. It's just the kind of war where people die without much bloodshed.
| CRITICS' REVIEWS | ||
| SOURCE | RATING | THE GIST |
| POSITIVE REVIEWS FOR THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN | ||
| MSNBC | N/A | "… a rousingly entertaining adventure that children and adults will enjoy in equal measure." |
| New York Times | N/A | "Its violent (though gore-free) combat scenes and high body count may rattle very young viewers, but older children are likely to be drawn into the thick political intrigue." |
| TV Guide | 3 stars/4 | "Chockablock with intense battle sequences and suffused with a sense of paradise lost …" |
| USA Today | 3 stars/4 | "… an exhilarating fantasy adventure marred only by its length and protracted climactic battle scenes." |
| Variety | N/A | "… a bit darker, more conventional and more crisply made than its 2005 predecessor …" |
| MIXED REVIEWS FOR THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN | ||
| Chicago Tribune | 2 stars/4 | "… delivers without much visual dynamism, and with a determined emphasis on combat." |
| Entertainment Weekly | B- | "… this is a movie that showcases battle. Lots and lots of battle." |
| Hollywood Reporter | N/A | "… a worthy if somewhat less wondrous successor to that 2005 phenomenon." |
| Rolling Stone | 2½ stars/4 | "If anything, this sequel could have used more hellfire. You leave feeling covered in a blanket of bland." |
| Village Voice | N/A | "Adamson has retooled the old-fashioned, handmade charms of his first Narnia into a schoolboy epic strung together by CGI-laden action sequences featuring men and boys wearing metal while showing mettle." |
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