Product: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Two Disc Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray] (2008)
Rating: 5.0
Much better than the book!!!
It isn't often that a movie adaptation of a book outdoes the source material (I defy anyone to prove that The Lord of the Rings films are superior to the books). However, unlike the novel, which reads like a bad history lesson, Prince Caspian The Movie is a stirring and wonderful fantasy film.Some people might prefer the kinder and gentler prequel, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. But the sequel is a much more thrilling movie to watch. There is hardly a moment when there isn't some bit of action taking place on the screen. Where the first Narnia movie welcomed us to a winter wonderland ruled by an evil witch, Prince Caspian takes the story into a darker realm and shows us a Narnia in chaos. The cause? The arrival of human-beings who despise the original inhabitants of Narnia and has waged a war to wipe them completely from existence. In the absence of the original kings and queens of Narnia (the 4 Pevensie children) and the Christ-like Lion, Aslan, Narnia has fallen into ruin and has become a place of darkness where even the mere mention of its original inhabitants can lead to one's imprisonment or death.This is where Prince Caspian comes to the rescue. Desperate to save Narnia from the dark ambitions of his cruel uncle, Miraz, Prince Caspian uses a magic horn to summon the Pevensie children from our world and back to Narnia hoping that they can restore peace to Narnia as they had done once before in the days of the rule of the White Witch.Prince Caspian is a film loaded with epic battle sequences (albeit bloodless) and foregoes some of the first film's gentle qualities to immerse audiences in a Narnia teetering on the brink of absolute lawlessness.I was a little disturbed by the amount of violence in the movie especially considering that this is supposed to be a children's movie. But this seems to be more of a problem with our culture which currently finds itself increasingly marketing inappropriate material to young audiences.The performances by the Pevensie children William Mosley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Hensley are up to the task. But the stand out performace in the film goes to Peter Dinklage who does a wonderful job endearing audiences as Trumpkin the Dwarf. Also, notable here is newcomer and former stage actor Ben Barnes who plays the role of Prince Caspian.I would recommend this film to all fantasy lovers out there, both young and old. In many respects, this is one of the best children's movies ever made. I would put it up there with the best of them. It's definitely superior to Eragon, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Seeker, and a number of recently released children's fantasy films. Only Harry Potter and His Dark Materials (if The Golden Compass sequels ever get made)can claim to be a better series. Although a few notable people involved with the first two movies will not appear in any future films, the future is bright for the Narnia series if the filmmakers can continue to produce high quality films like Prince Caspian. I'm already growing antsy waiting on the arrival of the next Narnia entry: "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"!