Review of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'

The second film from Disney in the CS Lewis Narnia series sees the Pevensie children returning to Narnia many hundreds of years after they previously left. They are now legends with their castle in ruins. Narnia is in crisis with the land ruled by the Telmarine, a race of humans, who actively wish to stamp out the magical creatures that once ruled the land. A young prince, Caspian, flees an uncle who has killed his father (the former king) who now wants this final barrier to the throne also removed…It is up the returning Pevensies to help Caspian claim the throne and once again make peace with the Narnians…

There is a lot of violence in this second outing of the Narnia movies with battles gallore but also person “man-on-man” fighting that might be tough for young children to take. The effects are reasonable but do not stand out to me as they did in the first movie. There does appear to be a lot less colour in this one as well…muted colours and characters to match. Though the children have certainly matured (Georgie Henley as Lucy is the most animated of them all) they are generally one-dimensional and tend not to emote a lot…Leaving the audience to listen to what they are saying rather than the expressions on their faces.

A lot of running around in the woods leading up to a not-quite-spectacular final battle…Power politics are much more the game of the day here…

All in all, entertaining but not, certainly, stand-out.

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Review Date: 2008-07-13

Directed by: Andrew Adamson

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Year: 2008

Length: 144 minutes

Genre: Fantasy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499448/