Product: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Two Disc Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (2008)
Rating: 4.0
Adventuring to a darker land and movie
The first Chronicles of Narnia movie, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" came out around the time that many fantasy books were being bought up and while it wasn't as affecting or as memorable, it did do its job well despite some dodgy CGI and some ineffective directing during battle scenes. But it was still a success so out of the 7 books written, the next to be made was "Prince Caspian" but instead of releasing it at the time of Christmas like last time, Disney decided to play with the big boys and put it in the summer, being effectively sandwiched by "Iron Man" and the 4th "Indiana Jones" and let's not forget about that certain bat movie. So "Prince Caspian" grew less and people didn't like the tone but will it find a bigger audience at home or was it possibly too dark and not enough magic?The Pevensie children, Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan, have been living in England for a year trying to get back to normal which is tough after saving the magical kingdom of Narnia. Out of the blue, they're returned to Narnia only now it's almost abandoned with nary a creature in sight, only ruins. Seems that near a millennium has passed in the land of Narnia and thanks to Telmarines, the race of men, the citizens of Narnia have been all but extinct. Rightful heir to the throne is Prince Caspian who's been targeted by death by his uncle Miraz who wishes to take over the throne and so with the help of the Pevensies and the Narnians, Caspian hopes to defeat the incoming soldiers.It's usually common practice for the second film in a series to be a little bit more darker in tone or at least more adult, thinking being that since you've grown since the last book/movie, so have the characters. But then again, Narnia is a children's series of books with adult fans and an adaptation that screams for something more exciting so it's kind of like the "rock and a hard place" saying. Go too dark and you've alienated mostly everyone whereas if you keep the warm, friendly family tone then you're just lightweight fun and nothing more. And I can say that "Prince Caspian" does maintain an excitement about it and the last battle is quite awesome however the tone and even the pacing of the film feels a bit...off and whereas the previous film had many moments of otherworldlyness and fantasy moments, this film feels more like a normal adventure film with characters in it from fantasy. Maybe if they ever make the third they'll combine the 2 and make it better but this film feels less fantasy and more adult than you'd hope a film like this to have.That being said, many elements have been improved on from the quality to the animation (save for a dodgy late film sequence involving a river) to the character performances and even Adamson's directing skills have been a little bit more improved and despite some complaints about it being too different than last time, it's still engaging and keeps your interest though I wish Aslan had a bigger role though he is that secret weapon that when unleashed, practically owns everything in the room, his limited involvement kind of hurts it and he might as well be a cameo or at least to show you that despite the talking mice and dwarves, the lion is still in the movie. Then there's the odd brief sequence from a character from the last movie that kind of gives a "what was that for?" feeling. But the villain is just as sinister as Tilda Swinton was and Reepicheep, a swashbuckling mouse voiced by Eddie Izzard is memorable (though sadly not used frequently) and you have a movie that works well enough for adults and even kids might like it though might need to turn down the volume a little. Even the entrance to Narnia itself this time is rather...loud.The Narnia films seem to be the easiest contender to fit alongside "Harry Potter" and the "Ring" films for some of the better fantasy adaptations but there just seems to be something not getting across, something that feels bigger than the sum of its parts where it turns from a good book adaptation to a great movie, period. "Prince Caspian" is worth a look but it might not be anything more.