A rambly and analytical meta of 'The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian'
Under a cut because I ramble on about lots of things. Mild spoilers for the movie, obviously. Though technically the story has been out for decades. :)
This is more rambly than my usual meta because it's been written over several days - and now that I've become quite involved in the fandom, I've had a chance to think about and discuss a few things...
What did you guys think?
I LOVED IT.
The movie had flaws, no doubt about it. But it was engaging and when I was sitting in the cinema with my friends, I was enveloped by the music and the images on the screen - I was in Narnia, beside Susan and Peter and Caspian, fighting for justice and the future freedom of Narnia. The film succeeded in drawing me into the fantasy world it created, and that's why it was an overwhelming success for me.
In retrospect - I enjoyed watching the film because I had some good friends and I was able to pay it out a lot, but as I've entered the fandom and had a think about it - the story is quite a touching and profound one. :)
The music deserves a special mention because, now that I've started to notice it, I've come to believe more and more that a good action/battle sequence is only as good as the soundtrack they use - it defines the mood and tone of the scene, it pulls all the emotional heartstrings it needs too. Narnia has some fantastic battle themes - the one repeated from LWW for Peter/Ed/Susan, and Caspian's theme. It set the tone for the drama and majesty of the whole event - all shining armour and whistling arrows, two armies - good versus. evil, not like the cruel, grimy and grey world of modern warfare. Modern life, really.
And of course The Call (by Regina Spektor) used at the end was so emotionally heart-wrenching.
The cinematography was A-M-A-Z-I- N-G. Every shot was so beautifully constructed - the lighting, the positions of the actors… beautiful stuff. My favourites would have to be the scenes on the beach and the ruins of Cair Paravel, and the scenes within Aslan’s How - for scenes that were so dark, they were beautifully shot.
The acting? Welll. Ben was an...interesting Caspian. I adore the boy, and he seems to get hotter every time I look at him :) I think he played a very adolescent and at times quite childish Caspian - emotional, impulsive, proud. Maybe it was because of the accent (Spanish? Sorry Ben. xD) and the fact he looks a little too old to be acting like that legitimately - he didn't have me 100% sold. But I've got high hopes for Ben, and Caspian, so we'll see how VODT goes, y?
ETA: I saw Bigga than Ben and now I know that boy can act!
The same goes for William - the scene at the beginning when he's fighting those boys? Yeah, that had me raising my eyebrows just a little bit. He's quite a different Peter to book!Peter but I'm glad - the character has a lot of depth, and he did create a character I understood - even if there were times I was very irritated with him. :)
Oh, and he cannot swordfight to save his life. Seriously. Ben had a wonderful lithe body that was perfect for horseriding and swordfighting, and so does Skandar, but William is either too short or uncoordinated - YAY VODT!
Skandar is LOOOVE. Edmund had just the right amount of snark and the majesty befitting a King of Narnia. Anna was a little wooden, and I have very serious issues with the over-use of her eyeliner.
Jumbled up comments about storyline/dialogue/themes…
- Wish they had focussed more on WW2 - it’s such a great backdrop for the books. I would have liked to see more of old world London and the life the boring!Pevensies lead.
- Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. He bumped you???
- I loved the way they explored the whole idea of the “adult” Pevensies being children in the dangerous world of WW2 London. It’s amazing they weren’t totally insane after a year of living like that - particularly little Lucy!
- WHY, pray tell, has Narnian civilization not advanced an iota in 1300 YEARS? *eyebrow raise*
- I KNOW it’s a children’s story, and I adore the Pevensies as much as the next girl - but the story really does trivialize the idea of running an entire kingdom. The functioning of a healthy economy, continuation of diplomatic relations with the surrounding regions… running Narnia must be VERY SERIOUS BZNS, and sometimes I have trouble believing four kids from Finchley could do it so well as to become “The Greatest Kings and Queens Narnia has ever known”
- Caspian and Peter’s dynamic throughout the film made me laugh. A reviewer somewhere wrote they were acting like two players on a rugby team - and I would agree, though I have to say I understand why. Kings of Narnia they may be, they are still young and stubborn and passionate
[Me and my friends were having a conflict about who was better looking throughout most of the movie. xD Their antagonism looks good visually - in the sense Caspian is as “dark” as Peter is blonde and English]
- I’m well aware that C.S Lewis wrote these books with a very ‘Christian’ mindset, and I have to take that into consideration when I’m making my comments. I’m not Christian - it’s a religion I have had much contact with, and I have respect for tolerant Christians whose religion provides the with peace - but it’s not… how shall I put this? Some of the ideas within it aren’t particularly appealing to me. *shrug*
That’s probably why the whole Susan-and-Peter-can-never-come-back thing didn’t go down too well with me. I never particularly liked Aslan, anyway.
The writers did a good job of keeping the religious tones fairly subdued, which is good - kids can actually see through blatant religious propaganda ;)
- Several reviewers have commented on the violent nature of the film - and if you think about it, it’s basically about four children spending four days fighting a war in a foreign land. Killing mercilessly - aside from the Peter and Miraz duel, there was
In a world where wars are started without any provocation whatsoever, I don’t think it’s an appropriate time to be glorifying the event with shining armour, visually spectacular duels and battle themes. There’s no “right” and “wrong” in battles - it’s always shades of grey. And Caspian was killing his own Telmarine people - the people who had supported him since he was born, his own flesh, blood and spirit. The audience never gets to see the anguish of the families after every soldier is killed - they were freaking conscripted then, so many of them would not have wanted to go. How the Telmarines managed to support him after such a betrayal is beyond me, but I think I’ve strayed beyond the boundaries of the story again.
- Some of the dialogue was fantastic (Edmund's speech to Miraz? AWESOME!) and some of it was quite stereotypical and cringe-worthingly cliche. I don't think it was the dialogue they were focussing on at all with this film (judging by the stunts and the CGI) but some more fun one-liners and believable scenarios would not have gone astray.
- I quite liked Susan/Caspian, even if the overtones were fairly obvious from the first scene they had together. Ben and Anna had some good chemistry and looked good together onscreen - and I guess the attraction made sense. Susan and Caspian are both attractive, royalty, they’re growing up and exploring their own adulthood…
And I think the relationship adds a lot of depth to Susan’s character - it was all about regrets and what-could-have-beens, and maybe the fact that she had to leave Caspian behind as well was just another reason she turned to denial and “lipstick and nylons” (CS Lewis, you misogynist!) to escape the pain of her departure. AND HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK THAT SCENE AT THE END WAS CUTE AND BEAUTIFUL? HOWWWW?
[I'm ignoring all the dodgy dialogue, mkay?]
Something the writers could have explored further was the relationship between Peter and Caspian - I think they both had a lot to learn from each other in the movie!verse, and I would have loved to see a scene where Peter discussed ruling Narnia with Caspian, or something along those lines.
I’d give it about a 9/10.
This is more rambly than my usual meta because it's been written over several days - and now that I've become quite involved in the fandom, I've had a chance to think about and discuss a few things...
What did you guys think?
I LOVED IT.
The movie had flaws, no doubt about it. But it was engaging and when I was sitting in the cinema with my friends, I was enveloped by the music and the images on the screen - I was in Narnia, beside Susan and Peter and Caspian, fighting for justice and the future freedom of Narnia. The film succeeded in drawing me into the fantasy world it created, and that's why it was an overwhelming success for me.
In retrospect - I enjoyed watching the film because I had some good friends and I was able to pay it out a lot, but as I've entered the fandom and had a think about it - the story is quite a touching and profound one. :)
The music deserves a special mention because, now that I've started to notice it, I've come to believe more and more that a good action/battle sequence is only as good as the soundtrack they use - it defines the mood and tone of the scene, it pulls all the emotional heartstrings it needs too. Narnia has some fantastic battle themes - the one repeated from LWW for Peter/Ed/Susan, and Caspian's theme. It set the tone for the drama and majesty of the whole event - all shining armour and whistling arrows, two armies - good versus. evil, not like the cruel, grimy and grey world of modern warfare. Modern life, really.
And of course The Call (by Regina Spektor) used at the end was so emotionally heart-wrenching.
The cinematography was A-M-A-Z-I- N-G. Every shot was so beautifully constructed - the lighting, the positions of the actors… beautiful stuff. My favourites would have to be the scenes on the beach and the ruins of Cair Paravel, and the scenes within Aslan’s How - for scenes that were so dark, they were beautifully shot.
The acting? Welll. Ben was an...interesting Caspian. I adore the boy, and he seems to get hotter every time I look at him :) I think he played a very adolescent and at times quite childish Caspian - emotional, impulsive, proud. Maybe it was because of the accent (Spanish? Sorry Ben. xD) and the fact he looks a little too old to be acting like that legitimately - he didn't have me 100% sold. But I've got high hopes for Ben, and Caspian, so we'll see how VODT goes, y?
ETA: I saw Bigga than Ben and now I know that boy can act!
The same goes for William - the scene at the beginning when he's fighting those boys? Yeah, that had me raising my eyebrows just a little bit. He's quite a different Peter to book!Peter but I'm glad - the character has a lot of depth, and he did create a character I understood - even if there were times I was very irritated with him. :)
Oh, and he cannot swordfight to save his life. Seriously. Ben had a wonderful lithe body that was perfect for horseriding and swordfighting, and so does Skandar, but William is either too short or uncoordinated - YAY VODT!
Skandar is LOOOVE. Edmund had just the right amount of snark and the majesty befitting a King of Narnia. Anna was a little wooden, and I have very serious issues with the over-use of her eyeliner.
Jumbled up comments about storyline/dialogue/themes…
- Wish they had focussed more on WW2 - it’s such a great backdrop for the books. I would have liked to see more of old world London and the life the boring!Pevensies lead.
- Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. He bumped you???
- I loved the way they explored the whole idea of the “adult” Pevensies being children in the dangerous world of WW2 London. It’s amazing they weren’t totally insane after a year of living like that - particularly little Lucy!
- WHY, pray tell, has Narnian civilization not advanced an iota in 1300 YEARS? *eyebrow raise*
- I KNOW it’s a children’s story, and I adore the Pevensies as much as the next girl - but the story really does trivialize the idea of running an entire kingdom. The functioning of a healthy economy, continuation of diplomatic relations with the surrounding regions… running Narnia must be VERY SERIOUS BZNS, and sometimes I have trouble believing four kids from Finchley could do it so well as to become “The Greatest Kings and Queens Narnia has ever known”
- Caspian and Peter’s dynamic throughout the film made me laugh. A reviewer somewhere wrote they were acting like two players on a rugby team - and I would agree, though I have to say I understand why. Kings of Narnia they may be, they are still young and stubborn and passionate
[Me and my friends were having a conflict about who was better looking throughout most of the movie. xD Their antagonism looks good visually - in the sense Caspian is as “dark” as Peter is blonde and English]
- I’m well aware that C.S Lewis wrote these books with a very ‘Christian’ mindset, and I have to take that into consideration when I’m making my comments. I’m not Christian - it’s a religion I have had much contact with, and I have respect for tolerant Christians whose religion provides the with peace - but it’s not… how shall I put this? Some of the ideas within it aren’t particularly appealing to me. *shrug*
That’s probably why the whole Susan-and-Peter-can-never-come-back thing didn’t go down too well with me. I never particularly liked Aslan, anyway.
The writers did a good job of keeping the religious tones fairly subdued, which is good - kids can actually see through blatant religious propaganda ;)
- Several reviewers have commented on the violent nature of the film - and if you think about it, it’s basically about four children spending four days fighting a war in a foreign land. Killing mercilessly - aside from the Peter and Miraz duel, there was
In a world where wars are started without any provocation whatsoever, I don’t think it’s an appropriate time to be glorifying the event with shining armour, visually spectacular duels and battle themes. There’s no “right” and “wrong” in battles - it’s always shades of grey. And Caspian was killing his own Telmarine people - the people who had supported him since he was born, his own flesh, blood and spirit. The audience never gets to see the anguish of the families after every soldier is killed - they were freaking conscripted then, so many of them would not have wanted to go. How the Telmarines managed to support him after such a betrayal is beyond me, but I think I’ve strayed beyond the boundaries of the story again.
- Some of the dialogue was fantastic (Edmund's speech to Miraz? AWESOME!) and some of it was quite stereotypical and cringe-worthingly cliche. I don't think it was the dialogue they were focussing on at all with this film (judging by the stunts and the CGI) but some more fun one-liners and believable scenarios would not have gone astray.
- I quite liked Susan/Caspian, even if the overtones were fairly obvious from the first scene they had together. Ben and Anna had some good chemistry and looked good together onscreen - and I guess the attraction made sense. Susan and Caspian are both attractive, royalty, they’re growing up and exploring their own adulthood…
And I think the relationship adds a lot of depth to Susan’s character - it was all about regrets and what-could-have-beens, and maybe the fact that she had to leave Caspian behind as well was just another reason she turned to denial and “lipstick and nylons” (CS Lewis, you misogynist!) to escape the pain of her departure. AND HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK THAT SCENE AT THE END WAS CUTE AND BEAUTIFUL? HOWWWW?
[I'm ignoring all the dodgy dialogue, mkay?]
Something the writers could have explored further was the relationship between Peter and Caspian - I think they both had a lot to learn from each other in the movie!verse, and I would have loved to see a scene where Peter discussed ruling Narnia with Caspian, or something along those lines.
I’d give it about a 9/10.