Sarah and I went to see Prince Caspian this past weekend and I wanted to share a review of it with you guys. It's especially for Nathan since he has a lot to do over in Afghanistan and I'm sure he's looking for anything remotely movie related. So in that spirit this review and other reviews will be completely spoiler free. Now, if you've read the book Prince Caspian, which I hope you have, then this movie will come as no surprise to you. As in the original the writers/producers/directors follow very closely to the original story. Granted some things were changed around a little to make it flow a little better in the movie. In the book some flashbacks happen about halfway through the movie, then some flashbacks happen within those flashbacks, and then finally a flashback is told at the same time while something else is being talked about in a completely different area. In a movie that could get very confusing. So I think they were justified with how they handled this. To be honest with you I think I preferred it this way anyway. If they had tried to do it like it was in the book I don't think it would have worked as well. A really interesting thing to note about the beginning of the movie; if I didn't know it was Prince Caspian I never would have guessed that's what it was. It's all very Lord of the Rings/Gladiator-ish. Which is a good thing I think. Since the world is 1000 years older and appears different for the Pevensie children, it should be very different for us as well. (One of the funniest lines in the movie comes when Edmund makes a comment to the girls about this apparent time travel)
So anyhow, as far as the story went they followed all the rest of the plot fabulously. I thought that they would leave out some of the more important things (faith, lack of faith, renewing of faith) that Mr. Lewis had put into this book, but they didn't. As a matter of fact I'd say they did an excellent job of showing all of those thing. I also didn't think they'd be able to get a scene with Aslan that was as emotional as the scene with Edmund in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (heretofore known as TLtWtW) but they did. In fact I actually shed a tear or two in the scene where Lucy talks to Aslan. It was simply amazing, moving, and a wonderful reminder of how patient Jesus is with all our foolishness.
The only part that was more hyped up in the movie than in the book was Susan's crush on Caspian. It's really overplayed in the movie. Not to the point where it's unbearable, it's not even that big of a deal. But it is there, and I thought, how very Hollywood of them. This may have something to do with why Aslan confronts her with a secret at the end of the movie (I won't spoil it, but in the book it says it happens because she becomes too involved in worldly things, like boys and make-up!).Out of the four kids that returned this time I have to tell you Edmund is my absolute favorite. His demeanor, the way he speaks (pride without being arrogant) the things he does, and the way he does them, all of these things make me enjoy his character more than anything else. Lucy was great too, and don't get me wrong, there is a lot of great acting in this move, but Edmund's character made me smile with almost every line, or every action. So in saying all of that I give this movie 4 Roaring Lions out of Five.
Anyway, I know this isn't a terribly revealing review, but I wanted to make it something Nate could read and not feel "spoilerfied". Next week I'll give you my spoiler free Indy IV review. Here's hoping it's better than I'm hearing from my Carmike Contacts. Life's going great by the way in case you were interested. I'm great, Sarah's great, we both can't wait to be done with school and back in Tennessee. Virginia is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here much longer. Ok, well, have a great one, see you next week.P.s. Please comment what you thought of this movie. And check back because I'll comment on your comments. :) Oh and make sure you vote in the upper right hand corner.
4 comments:
hmm...
i wasn't as positive after i watched it.
or maybe i was just being especially
critical since it's one of my favorite stories.
but lets see...
1. it kind of irked me that they used the exact
same soundtrack from the first but the music
was written for scenes in the first movie...soooo it
doesn't exactly flow.
2. you know how when you're little, and you have
those few action figures that just can't be beat and
always looks the best no matter what....well..that's how i felt about the main 5 characters...
especially susan...(she's not that great and doesn't deserve caspian anyways :)
3. finally i was nothing but tickled to see how all the CGI animals have improved and the special
introduction of my all-time favorite character...reepicheep!!!
overall...i DID like it... and i want to see it again soon!
Commenting on your comments Ellen: In the backwards way.
3.I agree with your assessment of Reepicheep. He was always my favorite and his voice was perfect to me. Sarah said he reminded her of Puss, of boots fame, in Shrek and I said I think that's because the guy who drew him probably got his ideas from Reepicheep. 2.Yeah, the whole Susan thing I think was the movies way of explaining why she wasn't coming back to Narnia, because in the book doesn't it touch on the fact that she had become too interested in boys and things that girls like (makeup) or something like that? Correct me if I'm wrong, cause it has been a bit since I've read. 1.I can't really comment on number one. I'm not as big of a music fan as some of you other readers out there. I didn't even notice that some of those songs were the same. The one song I did notice was The Call at the end. I loved it. I rushed home to get it off iTunes and was very upset when I found out you can only get it if you get the whole album. Stupid iTunes.
yeah! actually the director andrew adamson
i think...was the director for shrek and
had read the chronicles of narnia growing up
and loved reepicheep's character and so
actually based puss off of reepicheep! great!
erin told me that...
well...i THINK...susan becomes too preoccupied
with boys after she comes back and that's why
she forgets narnia completely. i believe she and peter leave for good because they were older learned all they would learn in narnia so aslan said there was no need for them to come back anymore. like a good thing.
i'm not sure....lol i'm not a narnia expert!
this is fun though!
Over all I did like the movie. However, It was borderline pg-13 with the action. Which I would be perfectly ok with, if they kicked it up a notch!
Edmund was by far the best of the humans. His sarcastic and witty comments, and he is a badace when it comes to fighting. One of my favorite scenes is when he, lets just say, keeps Caspian and Peter from falling in the same trap he did in TLtWtW.
Although Reepicheep is a crowd favorite when it comes to CGI animals, you know me, I am a Minotaur fan. They rocked, however if the movie was bumped up to pg-13 I think they could have rocked harder. But basically, they were very heroic and unfortunately, "GREEN MINOTAUR NEEDS FOOD BADLY!!" Gotta love Gauntlet Legends.
Over all the movie was good, I am just looking forward to Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Did anyone ever see the old BBC versions of TLtWtW and Dawn Treader? I remember them from elementary school.
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