The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
By Matthew Rodgers
A lot has changed since the cupboard literally creaked open in 2005’s wooden take on C.S.Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe; as well as the less prominent roles played by two of the previous titular characters and the complete abscene of a teak-stained gateway to Narnia, the Pevensie children are summoned back to a much changed world of ruins and relics that 1000 years later is unrecognisable from the Faun filled lanscpae of Andrew Adamson’s insipid original.
The good news then is that Prince Caspian slashes away the memory of that sucessful, yet bland start for the Potter rivalling 7 book series by dropping the religious allegories, darnkening the tone (something of a pre-requisite for sequels to kid’s films these days) and upping the comedy and acting chops.
Stepping to the forefront is newcomer Ben Barnes as Caspian, excuding the required good looks of a would-be king he struggles with the faux-Spaniard accent but remains a square jawed fulcrum on which to hang the books admittedly slight plot. He is aided by the much improved quartet of kids; Both Popplewell and Mosely were barely passable first time out but have matured beyond the dumfounded look and “stick up the back” pronounceation to achieve acceptable grades. Keynes’ Edmund also has more to do than scowl this time round and his rappore with Wardrobe’s shining light Henley provides the only believable relationship in the entire film (James McAvoy’s Tumnus is also sorley missed).
It’s down to the non-human and for that read CGI or caked in make-up to supply Caspian with its real pulse. Peter Dinklage is fantastic as grumpy dwarf, Trumpkin, perhaps a little cliched as far as dwarfs go his addition dilutes the overtly serious dialogue spouted by the young actors and raises a smile on each occasion. Add to the menagerie Eddie Izzards feisty turn as swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep, a rodent who would need more than a lump of cheese and wire frame to bring him down and you have the light-heartedness missing from the over earnest original.
The quality control improvement also applies to Adamson’s direction; the blinding palette of film one has been replaced with a weather worn look of an alternate real world, the sign of a filmmaker much more comfortable with the huge set-pieces and borderless canvas that Lewis’ imagination provides.
What the movie does lack however is a real sense of threat, not just because of the bloodless harmlessness of the choreographed battles but mainly thanks to the abcense of a real villian. Gone is Tilda Swinton’s perfectly cast and performed White Witch only to be replaced with King Miraz, a political tyrant whose cowardice means he barely rises above pantomime villian.
A step in the right direction before Micahel Apted takes us on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010, Prince Caspian is enjoyable enough to make that a journey worth anticipating.
