Movie Review
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Hensley, and Peter Dinklage.
PG. 135 min. 2008.
Let's start by making very clear that, in this writer's opinion, 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fell far short of the expectations set by decades of waiting for a big-budget version of the story. Despite mildly impressive visuals and a few notable performances - one of whom has since won an Oscar - the film was largely flat and completely lacking emotion, and director Andrew Adamson made some truly epic battle sequences frustratingly dull. With this sequel, Adamson has taken nearly all of the original film's faults and worsened them exponentially.
A year has passed since the Pevensie children - Lucy, Edmond, Peter, and Susan - traveled through a wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. Despite their greatest efforts, they have failed to journey back into this land. But when a young prince, escaping assassins sent by his uncle, blows on Susan's misplaced, magical horn, they are brought back to their kingdom via a truly lame visual effect at a train station. Things have changed, though, and Narnia appears to be a much darker, wilder place. They encounter a dryly sarcastic dwarf, played by Peter Dinklage, who informs them that 1300 years have passed since they left. They are then drawn into a plan to restore Narnia to it's former glory.
At least, I think that's what the story was. Unfortunately, the actors in this film use such atrociously incomprehensible accents that the audience will likely miss half of the inane dialogue spilling out of their mouths. Ben Barnes, as Prince Caspian, is a dashing hero. Charming, attractive... he's everything a person could want in a hero. Scratch that; he's everything a producer could want in a hero. Despite a strong, if small, turn in last summer's flop Stardust, Barnes displays the charisma of a waldorf salad, and makes the tragic mistake of playing the character with the worst accent since Angelina Jolie ate the scenery out of Alexander. This is a character we are meant to sympathize with, and yet we find ourselves feeling nothing but apathy as to whether or not he becomes King. Perhaps if we had been treated to more character-driven scenes and less mindless action this problem would have been solved, but this is a Summer Blockbuster; mindless action is always the way to go.
Director Adamson has made his fair share of quality movies - he directed the first two Shrek films - but he shows no skill at directing action sequence, giving the audience no sense of geography or peril, instead opting to have as many slow-motion glory shots of his cast swinging plastic swords around badly computer generated Minotaurs heads, to the most irritating score in recent memory. There are a handful of sequences that could have been truly thrilling - the evening sequence in which the Narnians break into the villain's castle is genuinely exciting to watch, but because composer Harry Gregson-Williams insists on using every trumpet and violin in his orchestra during every moment of the scene, all suspense is destroyed. Much of the film is like this; excellent sequences destroyed by distracting, inappropriate music. It's such a waste.
One notable scene halfway through the film does succeed in every way possible. To describe it would destroy any impact the scene in question will have on audiences, but suffice it to say the surprise cameo is the best part of the movie. And for good reason - it's a character we all wanted to see return. The conflict between the heroes peaks at this moment, and the child actors shine, reminding audiences why we loved them so much when they first journeyed to Narnia three years ago. All excitement is killed in a final sequence, largely remiscent of a scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Liv Tyler's Arwen uses her magic to control a river in order to defeat the evil Nazgul. Here, we are treated to a visual so blatantly, comically Christian, something that until that moment had been sidelined significantly from the first film, that the audience was tittering with laughter. Laughter is not something that should be heard during the final, epic battle sequence of a fantasy action film.
Ultimately, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian manages to be an entertaining spectacle, but little more. With shallow characterizations, poor acting, excessively violent action, and spastic direction, the film fails miserably as anything more than escapism. It could have been great, but as is this is nothing more than a forgettable, disappointing entry in a series that seems to have lost its magic. C-
Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Hensley, and Peter Dinklage.
PG. 135 min. 2008.
Let's start by making very clear that, in this writer's opinion, 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fell far short of the expectations set by decades of waiting for a big-budget version of the story. Despite mildly impressive visuals and a few notable performances - one of whom has since won an Oscar - the film was largely flat and completely lacking emotion, and director Andrew Adamson made some truly epic battle sequences frustratingly dull. With this sequel, Adamson has taken nearly all of the original film's faults and worsened them exponentially.
A year has passed since the Pevensie children - Lucy, Edmond, Peter, and Susan - traveled through a wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia. Despite their greatest efforts, they have failed to journey back into this land. But when a young prince, escaping assassins sent by his uncle, blows on Susan's misplaced, magical horn, they are brought back to their kingdom via a truly lame visual effect at a train station. Things have changed, though, and Narnia appears to be a much darker, wilder place. They encounter a dryly sarcastic dwarf, played by Peter Dinklage, who informs them that 1300 years have passed since they left. They are then drawn into a plan to restore Narnia to it's former glory.
At least, I think that's what the story was. Unfortunately, the actors in this film use such atrociously incomprehensible accents that the audience will likely miss half of the inane dialogue spilling out of their mouths. Ben Barnes, as Prince Caspian, is a dashing hero. Charming, attractive... he's everything a person could want in a hero. Scratch that; he's everything a producer could want in a hero. Despite a strong, if small, turn in last summer's flop Stardust, Barnes displays the charisma of a waldorf salad, and makes the tragic mistake of playing the character with the worst accent since Angelina Jolie ate the scenery out of Alexander. This is a character we are meant to sympathize with, and yet we find ourselves feeling nothing but apathy as to whether or not he becomes King. Perhaps if we had been treated to more character-driven scenes and less mindless action this problem would have been solved, but this is a Summer Blockbuster; mindless action is always the way to go.
Director Adamson has made his fair share of quality movies - he directed the first two Shrek films - but he shows no skill at directing action sequence, giving the audience no sense of geography or peril, instead opting to have as many slow-motion glory shots of his cast swinging plastic swords around badly computer generated Minotaurs heads, to the most irritating score in recent memory. There are a handful of sequences that could have been truly thrilling - the evening sequence in which the Narnians break into the villain's castle is genuinely exciting to watch, but because composer Harry Gregson-Williams insists on using every trumpet and violin in his orchestra during every moment of the scene, all suspense is destroyed. Much of the film is like this; excellent sequences destroyed by distracting, inappropriate music. It's such a waste.
One notable scene halfway through the film does succeed in every way possible. To describe it would destroy any impact the scene in question will have on audiences, but suffice it to say the surprise cameo is the best part of the movie. And for good reason - it's a character we all wanted to see return. The conflict between the heroes peaks at this moment, and the child actors shine, reminding audiences why we loved them so much when they first journeyed to Narnia three years ago. All excitement is killed in a final sequence, largely remiscent of a scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Liv Tyler's Arwen uses her magic to control a river in order to defeat the evil Nazgul. Here, we are treated to a visual so blatantly, comically Christian, something that until that moment had been sidelined significantly from the first film, that the audience was tittering with laughter. Laughter is not something that should be heard during the final, epic battle sequence of a fantasy action film.
Ultimately, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian manages to be an entertaining spectacle, but little more. With shallow characterizations, poor acting, excessively violent action, and spastic direction, the film fails miserably as anything more than escapism. It could have been great, but as is this is nothing more than a forgettable, disappointing entry in a series that seems to have lost its magic. C-