Product: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Two Disc Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (2008)
Rating: 5.0
Fascinating take on Lewis's story
A year has passed since the four Pevensies stumbled out of Narnia, and Susan believes they should get used to living permanently in their own world. After all, she, Edmund, and Lucy have been able to blend back into English society. Peter, unfortunately, is a different story. Accustomed to being High King, he strongly resents being treated as a child; and when the four are called back to Narnia by Susan's magic horn, Peter carries his resentment with him.But Narnia is not the same land the Pevensies left. Over a thousand years have passed since their departure, and technologically advanced (at least for medieval times) Telmarines rule the country. Thoroughly modernistic, they hate and fear even the stories of Old Narnia, although they are somewhat pacified by a mistaken belief that the Old Narnian creatures are extinct. It is in this world that the Telmarine prince Caspian has been forced to flee his scheming uncle Lord Miraz, who wants to kill Caspian for control of the Telmarine throne. Given Susan's horn by his half-dwarf tutor, Caspian blew it at a time of need and called the Pevensies back.Caspian has convinced the Old Narnians of his ability to lead when Peter and his siblings arrive. Due to a misunderstanding, their first meeting is actually a fight, and the relationship between Caspian and Peter improves little even after the confusion is cleared. Between the arrogance with which Peter leads, the anger at Miraz that Caspian fails to control, and the insecurities that both secretly harbor, the two allow their personal problems to interfere with their duties. An even greater problem is that only Lucy--and to a lesser degree, Edmund, who has learned to respect her--seeks Aslan's guidance. The vastly outnumbered Narnians have no chance at winning without Aslan, but pragmatism causes Peter, Caspian, and the Black Dwarf Nikabrik to look for other means of victory. Only a near disaster inside Aslan's How shows all concerned that without Aslan, the Narnian cause is hopeless. And nothing short of a miracle can avert defeat when the Narnians and Telmarines face off at last.While the directors made many changes from the original book, none but a minor Susan-Caspian romance would probably have displeased C. S. Lewis. The characterization is strong; many of the seeming changes are actually a tweaking of hints already in the book, mainly from a following-Aslan-in-the-dark sequence that didn't make it into the movie. Peter and Caspian are both learning about leadership; Susan struggles with doubts about Aslan; Lucy learns the necessity of following Aslan even when no one else will back her up. Edmund's mistakes have affected him more than anyone else; while none of the others ever mentions his betrayal, he cannot forget. Only once does he speak up during a council meeting, and then to defend Peter. The statement of Lewis at the end of LWW, that Edmund became a quieter person than the others, comes to mind. Also, an interesting twist in the betrayal of Miraz's underlords is thrown in. Glozelle starts out by attempting to obey Miraz's orders to kill Caspian. In the end, he shows mercy to Caspian and is spared. Fellow-conspirator Sopespian chooses to stand against Aslan and is doomed. Really, that is the movie's central theme: without Aslan, no one in Narnia stands a chance. They may hate him, ignore him, insist he does not exist. But only his intervention saves Narnia in the end.