Cinema Hype

I wonder whether, given the option, Walden Media would have skipped out on making Prince Caspian and gone straight to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After all, let’s face it: Prince Caspian is not the most exciting Narnia book.

I think the Walden folks knew that, either in their minds or somewhere deeper down, in their hearts of hearts, which is why this movie is the way it is. It’s not bad–not boring, not badly written, not badly acted–but it feels less confident somehow. There’s a sense of compensation, like the source material isn’t quite interesting enough, so let’s intervene and make it interesting. And I think we can all predict what happens when we try to muddle with C.S. Lewis (automatic lightning bolt, obviously).

So somebody, somewhere along the line, messed with the novel. There’s a little more battling and a little less of some other things—my favorite part, Lucy partying in the woods all night, gone completely!—and a Susan/Caspian vibe that doesn’t ring a bell for me, but which I may just have forgotten. And it seems a little naive and curmudgeonly to even bring it up—because I know that sometimes (usually), screenplays don’t spring fully-formed from source material—except that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was such a true, straight adaptation that any fudging in Prince Caspian is pretty readily apparent.

And then there’s the modernization element, which may be even more troubling (especially if you’re totally geriatric, like me. Get off my lawn!). One of the best things about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was how straight it played everything, how little it took part in the dumbing-down or growing-up of family movies. Prince Caspian has plenty of moments that are true to the spirit of Lewis’s storytelling style, but it also makes use of more modern dialogue, more one-liners, and a CGI warrior-mouse who gets uncomfortably close to Shrekliness. And there are plenty of fine, casually-spoken family films out there—there’s a place for Shrek, surely—but it seems like, as a part of a series, the sensibility is just a little un-Narnian.

It’s not all bad. Not by far. One of the joys of the Narnia movie franchise is the casting, which has borne itself out well in this second film. Unlike a certain other much-loved fantasy film series we might name, all of the Pevensie-kid actors seem to be approaching (and/or leaving) adolescence with great grace. Georgie Henley, of Lucy fame, continues to be adorable and supremely un-annoying, but it’s Skandar Keynes as Edmund and especially Anna Popplewell as Susan who really distinguish themselves—both carry off brave, prickly, complicated characters convincingly and with a minimum of self-consciousness. (Somehow High King Peter is the least interesting, but I don’t think it’s William Moseley’s fault. Peter’s golden from the core, which we all know is boooring.) The issue of Susan and Peter’s fast-approaching adulthood plays out really well; Anna Popplewell in particular has grown up gorgeous, and the vague but present sense that Susan is Hot gets kind of uncomfortable. It’s satisfying to see the film work that out and deal with it in a way that makes sense. Well played, all.

And then there’s the rest of it, the things that come out in the trailers: assassination plot, gathering of various Narnian creatures, battle. WETA Studios—of Lord of the Rings special-effects fame—outdo themselves with all the creatures tunneling, running, riding, and flying to battle. Second-fiddle book or no, there’s plenty of (totally bloodless) mayhem to go around, plenty of excitement. It’s a summer family film doing what summer family films do best, and for that it’s worth a look.

Narnia, Narnia movies, Prince Caspian, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, CS Lewis, William Mosley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, WETA Studios, summer movies, movie reviews