Return to Narnia

>> Prince Caspian is an inventive, if long,
adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel

by MARK SLUTSKY

It was inevitable that after the success of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, sequels based on the rest of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series would follow. So here we have Prince Caspian, which returns our heroes to Lewis’s magic, Christianity-tinged land for further adventure, heroics and religious imagery.

This one may actually be more palatable to audiences who don’t care for proselytizing; as with the book, the faith-based symbolism is no more overt than what you’ll find in any uplifting Hollywood family film. The emphasis here is more on loyalty, courage and the triumph of good over evil, rather than the first movie’s rather explicit resurrection story.

Prince Caspian is set a year, in “our” world, after the previous film, though, in Narnian terms, that means hundreds of years have passed. (The differently sped timelines of the two worlds was one of the most fascinating things about the series to me when I read them as a kid.)

Our four heroes, the Pevensie siblings Lucy, Edmund, Peter and Susan (Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell, respectively) are called back to the kingdom they once reigned over by Prince Caspian the 10th (Ben Barnes).

He’s the rightful heir to the throne of Narnia, in which civilization is inhabited mostly by humans, while the Old Narnians—the beasties, dwarves, centaurs and the hoogedy-boogedy whatnots and whatchamacallits—hide out in the forest. Caspian has been driven there by his evil uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), who seeks the throne for himself. Enter our heroes and plenty of epic battling.

Is this movie any good? Well, it’s not bad, not compared to some of the other Lord of the Rings knockoffs kicking around out there. There are a couple of decent battles and swordfights. That’s par for the course with this genre—as is the regrettable trend of sticking a dozen endings on a movie that’s already almost two and a half hours long.

It’s a little long, a little boring, but not entirely without visual inventiveness. Your mileage may vary depending on whether you’re squiring tykes (sure, why not) or going by yourself as a grown-ass man or woman (don’t bother).

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince
Caspian opens this Friday, May 16

>> Movie Listings