Prince Caspian
I saw Prince Caspian this evening with my dad. Ah, I love Narnia. Overall, I really liked it. Also, wanna see what the beach at Cair Paravel looks like? Well, it looks exactly like
The kids were back in Narnia and I whispered to my dad "I've been there! That's Cathedral Cove!" It was fairly bizarre, and also awesome. Sadly, there are no actual ruins of Cair Paravel at Cathedral Cove. But, I have been to Narnia.
Anyway, the movie.
In brief: As for the movie itself, I really enjoyed it. It differed a lot from the book. But that is very necessary because (as with all the Narnia books) it is very short. And in Prince Caspian especially not much happens. And overall, it did a good job of making a movie out of the story, while still keeping the spirit of the book. And I have (grudgingly) decided that casting Caspian not as a kid works well for the way they told this story.
A more detailed review and book comparison (maybe a bit spoilerish)
So I think they did a very good job of keeping to the spirit of the book. They couldnt exactly follow the story exactly because not all that much happens. There is no huge battle (at the end basically the Telmarines are like "ahhh! moving trees and huge lion! We surrender). So they added all sorts of stuff- new battles, conflict between Caspian and Peter (in the book Peter is literally like "I'm not here to take the throne" and Capian is like "okay" and thats the end of it) etc. This is why I forgive them for making Caspian older- if he had been a kid too as he was supposed to (slightly younger than Peter in the book) then it would have seemed strange for him to constantly challenge Peter. But being older, it makes sense for him and Peter to butt heads, and that provided good, believable conflict for the movie. Even if it made Peter a bit obnoxious. (On a side note, I find it interesting that the movie made Susan unobnoxious and put her in the battles and stuff. It will make Susan's fate in Last Battle make less sense- or even sadder- if they get that far in making the movies) The one complaint of changing things was that Caspian blew the horn the first time he was threatened- it wasnt some huge decision, he didnt try to work out his problems on his own, and he didnt know what he was doing. I guess this made sense to justify the fact that he was reluctant to accept their help, but still. Anyway, overall I think the movie did a very good job of upping the action in the spirit of the book. I especially liked the whole White Witch scene- it is very short in the book but not nearly as dramatic or as tempting. And keeping Aslan's involvment minimal allowed for a tenser situation among the Narnians. Though it did make it kinda funny when their grand plan was "send Lucy into the forest and hope she finds Aslan."
A few other comments- I think all the kids did a great job (again). I also adored Trumpkin and Reepicheep. And the whole atmosphere of Narnia was just so wonderful, and I think the movie did a very good job of capturing it. And with balancing lots of action with a bit of humor as well. That said, I do think it went on a bit long. I feel some of the fighting could have definitely been made a bit shorter. And also, whoever decided that a pop song should be played as they are leaving Narnia is an idiot. Pop songs and Narnia don't mix. Hmph.
Sorry if that isn't coherent- I'm tired and coldy.
So yeah, yay Narnia. I hope the movie does well, so that they can get to the last of the books (The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle) made into movies, as they were never even given the BBC treatment. And The Magician's Nephew I could see adapting particularly well to movie form.
Yay Narnia. I really enjoyed the movie. And to top it off, Jamba Juice was locking their doors as we showed up after the movie, but the workers very kindly let us in anyway. Ahhh, Jamba.
The kids were back in Narnia and I whispered to my dad "I've been there! That's Cathedral Cove!" It was fairly bizarre, and also awesome. Sadly, there are no actual ruins of Cair Paravel at Cathedral Cove. But, I have been to Narnia.
Anyway, the movie.
In brief: As for the movie itself, I really enjoyed it. It differed a lot from the book. But that is very necessary because (as with all the Narnia books) it is very short. And in Prince Caspian especially not much happens. And overall, it did a good job of making a movie out of the story, while still keeping the spirit of the book. And I have (grudgingly) decided that casting Caspian not as a kid works well for the way they told this story.
A more detailed review and book comparison (maybe a bit spoilerish)
So I think they did a very good job of keeping to the spirit of the book. They couldnt exactly follow the story exactly because not all that much happens. There is no huge battle (at the end basically the Telmarines are like "ahhh! moving trees and huge lion! We surrender). So they added all sorts of stuff- new battles, conflict between Caspian and Peter (in the book Peter is literally like "I'm not here to take the throne" and Capian is like "okay" and thats the end of it) etc. This is why I forgive them for making Caspian older- if he had been a kid too as he was supposed to (slightly younger than Peter in the book) then it would have seemed strange for him to constantly challenge Peter. But being older, it makes sense for him and Peter to butt heads, and that provided good, believable conflict for the movie. Even if it made Peter a bit obnoxious. (On a side note, I find it interesting that the movie made Susan unobnoxious and put her in the battles and stuff. It will make Susan's fate in Last Battle make less sense- or even sadder- if they get that far in making the movies) The one complaint of changing things was that Caspian blew the horn the first time he was threatened- it wasnt some huge decision, he didnt try to work out his problems on his own, and he didnt know what he was doing. I guess this made sense to justify the fact that he was reluctant to accept their help, but still. Anyway, overall I think the movie did a very good job of upping the action in the spirit of the book. I especially liked the whole White Witch scene- it is very short in the book but not nearly as dramatic or as tempting. And keeping Aslan's involvment minimal allowed for a tenser situation among the Narnians. Though it did make it kinda funny when their grand plan was "send Lucy into the forest and hope she finds Aslan."
A few other comments- I think all the kids did a great job (again). I also adored Trumpkin and Reepicheep. And the whole atmosphere of Narnia was just so wonderful, and I think the movie did a very good job of capturing it. And with balancing lots of action with a bit of humor as well. That said, I do think it went on a bit long. I feel some of the fighting could have definitely been made a bit shorter. And also, whoever decided that a pop song should be played as they are leaving Narnia is an idiot. Pop songs and Narnia don't mix. Hmph.
Sorry if that isn't coherent- I'm tired and coldy.
So yeah, yay Narnia. I hope the movie does well, so that they can get to the last of the books (The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and The Last Battle) made into movies, as they were never even given the BBC treatment. And The Magician's Nephew I could see adapting particularly well to movie form.
Yay Narnia. I really enjoyed the movie. And to top it off, Jamba Juice was locking their doors as we showed up after the movie, but the workers very kindly let us in anyway. Ahhh, Jamba.