I realize that Prince Caspian isn't quite as well-made as the first one. However, I think this one is the better film and I only allotted the extra 10% to the first film because I liked Tilda Swinton as the White Witch. Some may disagree with me, but I think this was the better film because it was much more entertaining, the characters face real problems and the film is not so full of biblical connotations. However, the symbolism is still somewhat there in this film and I think that is a good thing because it captures the symbolic essence of the story. Anyway, Prince Caspian is a great movie filled with entertaining battle scenes, strong performances and great special effects.
Prince Caspian takes the Pevensie children back to Narnia a year after the events of the first story and 1000 years in Narnia time. In those thousand years, the creatures of Narnia were driven into hiding by the Telmarines, the now majority race in Narnia. Leading the Telmarines is the evil King Miraz, who only becomes king later in the movie. However, amongst the Telmarines exists Prince Caspian, the rightful king of Narnia but his uncle won't let that happen. It's up to the Pevensies, Caspian, and the colourful creatures of Narnia (including everyone's favourite Messiah-lion Aslan) to kill Miraz, defeat the Telmarines, and help Caspian assume his rightful place as king.
The film is much darker than the previous one and that may turn people off of taking their kids to see this because it isn't quite as innocent and whimsical as the first one. However, there are plot and character elements added to this movie that I liked. For instance, I liked the fact that Lucy, the youngest, can see Aslan when nobody else can. I also liked the fact that Peter, the eldest, was getting sort of cocky and had sort of a rivalry with Caspian. It's almost like he was coming back to Narnia expecting that he would be adulated by everyone seeing as he is High King Peter the Magnificent. However, Caspian was not willing to let him do that and there formed a rivalry.
The film features some wonderful performances. The four children did well, especially William Moseley and Anna Popplewell as Peter and Susan. Their performances really showed what the characters were going through and the fact that they were too old to go back to Narnia and needed to start living in the real world. I also liked the performances of Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Liam Neeson (well....the voice of Liam Neeson), and Ben Barnes. I had not really heard of him prior to this, and I heard he sucked in Dorian Gray, so I was apprehensive towards his performance prior to watching this movie. However, I thought he did wonderfully and I admired how much dialect work it must have taken to master the Inigo Montoya spanish accent. Needless to say, the movie is filled with some wonderful performances.
Lastly, the special effects and battles in this movie are wonderful. I thought the animation for the animals, especially Aslan, had increased in quality from the first film and they looked like real animals, not just CGI. The final battle was also quite epic, especially with the wonderful score and the water creature that comes right the f*ck out of nowhere and ending the battle. That being said, the score for this film was also better and the effects for this film were just all-around wonderful.
Prince Caspian is not a perfect movie, and I did take into account that I haven't read the book, which may have changed my opinion of the movie. I did like this one a tad more than the first film though because it is more entertaining, has a better storyline, and the actors/filmmakers are much more confident than they were in the first film. I can't wait to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader next and you can expect a review of it. All in all, if you are a fan of the series, then you should check it out. If you are a new fan of the series, then you should watch this. However, I would recommend you watch the first one before to pick up on the key elements of the story.
