Prince Caspian
Cast: Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley
Dir: Adam Adamson
Rating: 3.5/5
One year later, the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct and Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy.
The four children will soon meet a curious new character: Narnia's rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding, as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne.
With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians--led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian--embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz's tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.
Retuning to the franchise are actors William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley as the Pevensie siblings and it’s great to see this film, as well as being visually stunning, focus on character development.
Moseley’s Peter returns to Narnia once again expecting to be king and, for want of a better word, goes on a bit of an ego trip as he clashes with rightful heir to the throne Caspian.
Popplewell’s Susan is, thankfully, thrust into the action as a skilled archer; Edmund has grown up and is not the angry child hell bent on defying his brother that we saw in the first movie, and little Lucy still has the greatest imagination and belief in Narnia of all the Pevensie’s.
But it’s perhaps the performance of the film’s poster boy Ben Barnes as Caspian that is the most surprising as he portrays the young prince with innocence, at times naivety as well as the strength to fight for what is right that makes the audience genuinely care about his fate.
Barnes copes well with his first leading role and will melt the hearts of many a young girl, a star may just have been born. Moseley and Barnes banter and argue well together as Caspian and Peter clash throughout the film as they fight for leadership and despite this element differing from the book it works well.
What doesn’t work well however is Adamson’s inclusion of an attraction between Caspian and Susan which is just totally unnecessary. My only other criticism would be the film’s length at a whopping two and a half some of the scenes do seem a little drawn out and it may struggle to keep the attention of the younger members of the audience.
Despite this Adamson has produced an exciting romp through Narnia which is just as good as the original. The CGI is outstanding in particular the battle scenes as the Narnians take on the might of Miraz’s army.
We are also introduced to a string of weird and wonderful creatures including centaurs, satyrs, minotaurs and fighting mice, with some great voice cameos from Eddie Izzard and Ken Stott.
In all this is a family friendly fantasy movie that will not leave fans of the novels or the first film disappointed and will, without any trouble, hold it’s own well at the box office this very competitive summer.
The Chronicle of Narnia: Prince Caspian is out now on DVD
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw