The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian
Directed by Andrew Adamson
Starring Ben Barnes, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Peter Dinklage
Rated PG
Release date: May 16, 2008

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe introduced viewers to the magical world of Narnia, where the evil White Witch ruled over the talking animal inhabitants, keeping the land in a perpetual state of winter. It was through the title wardrobe that the Pevensie children — Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy — first entered Narnia. There they met the Christ-like lion Aslan, helped the Narnians overthrow the witch, then subsequently ruled into adulthood as Kings and Queens, until one day they inadvertently stepped back through that magical portal to their home in England where they were once again children.

That’s when we first learn that many decades in Narnia is only one day in our world. In Wardrobe‘s direct sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, it’s one year after the siblings returned to England and they’re finding it difficult to cope with being adolescents again after ruling as adults in Narnia for so long. As they await the train that will take them to begin their new school year, they lament about their time away from Narnia. The past year has been difficult, each of them having trouble coping in their own way with the situation — Susan has become detached from her peers, while Peter is easily agitated and combative with this classmates. Just as the foursome wonder if they’ll ever be called back to Narnia where they long to be, the walls of the station begin to crumble, opening up a portal to a world much different than they remember.

Back in Narnia, 1300 years have passed since the Pevensies left the land, leaving it without a leader and open to invasion by the Telmarines. The Telmarine tyrant Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) has an eye for the throne and plots to dispose of Narnia’s true king, his nephew, the young Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes). After Miraz’s wife gives birth to a son, providing him with a direct heir, the Prince flees for his life into the night, taking refuge in the enchanted woods. With Miraz’s soldiers in pursuit, Caspian — aided by the fabled talking animals of the woods — blows the magical horn that summons the formers Kings and Queens back to Narnia.

The filmmakers triumph in the challenging task of introducing us to the titular character, propelling him to the forefront of an already established scenario. They wisely skip forward into the book by opening the film with Prince Caspian’s plight (which isn’t dealt with into until much further into the book). Barnes is instantly likable as Prince Caspian, who we immediately cheer on, even during his initial face-off with Peter (returning star William Moseley).

While this second installment of the Narnia film series retains the franchise’s PG rating, Caspian is undoubtedly a darker, more serious offering, nicely fleshed out from C.S. Lewis‘ 1951 tale. Taking a cue from the Lord of the Rings films, writer/director Andrew Adamson incorporates the obligatory fantasy-movie epic battles, curmudgeonly dwarves, and sentient trees.

Unlike LOTR, Caspian‘s supporting characters are not beautiful princesses, silken-haired elves, and cute little hobbits, but they’re endearing and brave nonetheless. There’s centaurs, minotaurs, and sword-wielding mice, all of whom are more interesting then their human counterparts. After seeing the valiant mouse Reepicheep — voiced by Eddie Izzard — in action, I have high hopes if there’s ever a Mouse Guard movie. Peter Dinklage has been getting much-deserved attention for his role as Trumpkin, the dwarf who first aids Prince Caspian, then forms an alliance with the Pevensie children. But I should mention that Warwick Davis was great as the doubtful dwarf Nikabrik, whose situation was much better when the White Witch ruled in Narnia.

In the first movie, the White Witch (whose Tilda Swinton makes a cameo in Caspian) was portrayed more as a fairy tale villainess than a deadly foe, making it seem like the children were never in any real danger. Caspian takes us out of the fairy tale scenario and into real war conditions where characters perish and do not magically return.

Though the four children are beckoned back to Narnia to save the day, their fighting techniques leave a lot to be desired; all of them but the youngest Lucy (Georgie Henley) participate in battle, with seemingly Peter straining to brandish a broad sword and Susan (Anna Popplewell) awkwardly using her bow and arrows in close combat. But this doesn’t really detract from the storytelling, and by the end, Adamson does seem to figure out how to film the youngsters so that they appear competent.

On the other hand, Edmund (Skandar Keynes), who betrayed his siblings and nearly got them all killed in the first movie, is the only soldiering Pevensie who’s not only matured, but is believable as a fighter, which is a perfect setup for future Narnia films.

Prince Caspian is a worthy and welcomed addition to the pantheon of fantasy films.