Prince Caspian
So. As an adaptation, I hated Prince Caspian. I'm so, so sad to type that, but there it is.
I have to say that it started when they didn't name Dr. Cornelius at the beginning. I really wanted them to do Dr. Cornelius right, and that was disappointing. But how he got Caspian out and gave him the horn and all that, it was very exciting and I didn't focus on that disappointment. Then Caspian blew the horn. When it was not his greatest need. But, eh, in the movie, Dr. Cornelius hadn't really explained it to him or what would happen, so ok.
But then we get to England. Pevensies! Okay, Lucy and Susan, there they are. Where are the boys? Oh, Peter's fighting and Edmund saves him. Wait, what?
Peter's fighting. Edmund saves him.
Peter's fighting. Edmund saves him.
WHAT.
And we find out that Peter's fighting because he doesn't want to be treated like a kid? WHAT. WHAT. WHAT.
As an adaptation, it just all went downhill from there. I could cry, I'm so disappointed. As a movie, telling the story they wanted to tell and presenting the themes they wanted to present, it was good. But the story of PC, it was not.
Peter's pride/faith issue. "Why didn't Aslan give proof?" WHAT. "Who are you doing this for?" and finally, he shouts "For Aslan!" and then they win. WHAT. That just wasn't present in the book! Those weren't lessons Peter needed to learn! In the book, it's true that he didn't believe Lucy when Lucy said she saw Aslan. But that wasn't him not having faith in Aslan, that was him not having faith in Lucy.
Also, in the movie, he was so angry all the time. Were they trying for "realistic" teen angst or something? No no no. And his issues with Caspian being king. Peter wasn't trying to get the throne for himself! The only time that issue of Old King of Narnia vs. New King of Narnia came up was in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Caspian and Edmund were being influenced by dark magic. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy knew that their time had come and gone and they weren't there to take the throne again.
I really have no words for how I feel they failed Peter here. Peter's one of those characters that's just good. Not to say he never makes mistakes, but he's not one of those tragic flaw characters. And they changed that, so much, and it's not the Peter from the books that I love.
And the Susan/Caspian thing. I just. One of the themes of the movie seemed to be Peter and Susan accepting that they needed to be happy in England. So why did they introduce Susan rejecting a British boy (yeah, he was a dweeb, but they didn't have to cast a dweeb there!) and crushing on a Telemarine? If they felt there had to be a romantic subplot, have Lucy develop an (unreciprocated) crush on Caspian and then at the end, Caspian could kiss her hand or something and it would have been adorable and wonderful and courtly and in VotDT, they could have played with it a bit more. Or I'd even buy Caspian crushing on Susan more, but Susan saying no. But turning back and kissing him, even though she also said that things would never have worked out between them--NO NO NO NO.
This is more of a minor issue, but I didn't like some of the characterization choices. Susan was Queen Susan the Gentle. That doesn't mean Queen Susan the Pansy or Fearful or Cowardly or Can't Fight. But in those battle scenes...I don't know. I'm not sure how they could have had her been gentle yet tough. But I think they could have! And Lucy was Queen Lucy the Valiant. So when she was all, "I was too afraid"--ARGH. That wasn't why she didn't go in the book, and, also, that was a major case of telling and not showing, because she was not shown as afraid of anything throughout the whole movie.
Another major problem I had with the themes they added to the movie was that they contradicted each other. Like I said with the Susan/Caspian thing, but also Peter's issues. I interpreted a lot of that as Peter needing to learn to swallow his pride ("Leave off 'The Magnificent' next time" or whatever DLF said), but then Peter unhesitatingly gave Edmund his sword to prove to the DLF that they were really the Kings and Queens of old. So...Peter isn't proud? Again, yes, in the book, part of the reason was that if Edmund won, it would be more of a victory, and if he lost, it wouldn't be such a defeat, but they didn't say that in the movie at all.
But as a story, I was entertained enormously.
I love how the movie was filmed. The colors and the scenery and the special effects and the actors...everything. Aslan was amazing. I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of humor, a lot of fun. The story they told was very well done. The way Peter learned to swallow his pride, how Edmund got to get one over on the White Witch again (and how amazing was that scene? LOVED IT), Lucy's faith issues, Susan growing up, Caspian maturing--just amazing. Even minor characters, like the Telemarines who were going to betray Miraz were amazing and real. AND THEY SET UP THE NEXT MOVIE I LOVE THEM FOR THAT. In that council, when the lords were all, "As more and more of our chairs grow empty" or whatever. YES MIRAZ DID SEND LORDS FRIENDLY TO CASPIAN IX AWAY AND YES!
So I'll probably buy this when it comes out, but in the meantime, I'm going to curl up with the book and the old school BBC adaptation. Because they got it right.
I have to say that it started when they didn't name Dr. Cornelius at the beginning. I really wanted them to do Dr. Cornelius right, and that was disappointing. But how he got Caspian out and gave him the horn and all that, it was very exciting and I didn't focus on that disappointment. Then Caspian blew the horn. When it was not his greatest need. But, eh, in the movie, Dr. Cornelius hadn't really explained it to him or what would happen, so ok.
But then we get to England. Pevensies! Okay, Lucy and Susan, there they are. Where are the boys? Oh, Peter's fighting and Edmund saves him. Wait, what?
Peter's fighting. Edmund saves him.
Peter's fighting. Edmund saves him.
WHAT.
And we find out that Peter's fighting because he doesn't want to be treated like a kid? WHAT. WHAT. WHAT.
As an adaptation, it just all went downhill from there. I could cry, I'm so disappointed. As a movie, telling the story they wanted to tell and presenting the themes they wanted to present, it was good. But the story of PC, it was not.
Peter's pride/faith issue. "Why didn't Aslan give proof?" WHAT. "Who are you doing this for?" and finally, he shouts "For Aslan!" and then they win. WHAT. That just wasn't present in the book! Those weren't lessons Peter needed to learn! In the book, it's true that he didn't believe Lucy when Lucy said she saw Aslan. But that wasn't him not having faith in Aslan, that was him not having faith in Lucy.
Also, in the movie, he was so angry all the time. Were they trying for "realistic" teen angst or something? No no no. And his issues with Caspian being king. Peter wasn't trying to get the throne for himself! The only time that issue of Old King of Narnia vs. New King of Narnia came up was in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Caspian and Edmund were being influenced by dark magic. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy knew that their time had come and gone and they weren't there to take the throne again.
I really have no words for how I feel they failed Peter here. Peter's one of those characters that's just good. Not to say he never makes mistakes, but he's not one of those tragic flaw characters. And they changed that, so much, and it's not the Peter from the books that I love.
And the Susan/Caspian thing. I just. One of the themes of the movie seemed to be Peter and Susan accepting that they needed to be happy in England. So why did they introduce Susan rejecting a British boy (yeah, he was a dweeb, but they didn't have to cast a dweeb there!) and crushing on a Telemarine? If they felt there had to be a romantic subplot, have Lucy develop an (unreciprocated) crush on Caspian and then at the end, Caspian could kiss her hand or something and it would have been adorable and wonderful and courtly and in VotDT, they could have played with it a bit more. Or I'd even buy Caspian crushing on Susan more, but Susan saying no. But turning back and kissing him, even though she also said that things would never have worked out between them--NO NO NO NO.
This is more of a minor issue, but I didn't like some of the characterization choices. Susan was Queen Susan the Gentle. That doesn't mean Queen Susan the Pansy or Fearful or Cowardly or Can't Fight. But in those battle scenes...I don't know. I'm not sure how they could have had her been gentle yet tough. But I think they could have! And Lucy was Queen Lucy the Valiant. So when she was all, "I was too afraid"--ARGH. That wasn't why she didn't go in the book, and, also, that was a major case of telling and not showing, because she was not shown as afraid of anything throughout the whole movie.
Another major problem I had with the themes they added to the movie was that they contradicted each other. Like I said with the Susan/Caspian thing, but also Peter's issues. I interpreted a lot of that as Peter needing to learn to swallow his pride ("Leave off 'The Magnificent' next time" or whatever DLF said), but then Peter unhesitatingly gave Edmund his sword to prove to the DLF that they were really the Kings and Queens of old. So...Peter isn't proud? Again, yes, in the book, part of the reason was that if Edmund won, it would be more of a victory, and if he lost, it wouldn't be such a defeat, but they didn't say that in the movie at all.
But as a story, I was entertained enormously.
I love how the movie was filmed. The colors and the scenery and the special effects and the actors...everything. Aslan was amazing. I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of humor, a lot of fun. The story they told was very well done. The way Peter learned to swallow his pride, how Edmund got to get one over on the White Witch again (and how amazing was that scene? LOVED IT), Lucy's faith issues, Susan growing up, Caspian maturing--just amazing. Even minor characters, like the Telemarines who were going to betray Miraz were amazing and real. AND THEY SET UP THE NEXT MOVIE I LOVE THEM FOR THAT. In that council, when the lords were all, "As more and more of our chairs grow empty" or whatever. YES MIRAZ DID SEND LORDS FRIENDLY TO CASPIAN IX AWAY AND YES!
So I'll probably buy this when it comes out, but in the meantime, I'm going to curl up with the book and the old school BBC adaptation. Because they got it right.