“Prince Caspian” is the follow-up to 2005’s “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” in the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, which beyond being a better movie, was a much bigger hit than expected. After a disappointing opening weekend for “Caspian” it seems it was doomed for disappointment.
It has been three years since the last “Narnia” film, but in the universe of the movie it has only been one for the Pevensie kids in their London home and a thousand or more for the denizens of “Narnia.” In that time, Narnians have come close to going extinct at the hands of an aggressive human empire that goes by the name of the Telmarines, lead by the evil King Miraz. Miraz stole the throne from Prince Caspian and is trying to kill him. Together, a fugitive Caspian and the Pevensies – Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy – must fight off the Telmarines and restore Narnia to its former glory.
This is supposed to be a movie filled with magic. Unfortunately, this is exactly what it lacks.
“Wardrobe” was not a perfect movie, but it had enough going for it to be liked. Most of that was due to characters like Aslan, the lion king of Narnia, the White Witch and sidekicks like Mr. Tumnus the Faun and the beavers.
“Caspian” lacks both Aslan and interesting B-characters, who in this picture are disadvantaged by being played by less gifted actors. Liam Neeson’s voice was resounding and wise as Aslan in “Wardrobe.” Here, we hardly see the lion in the movie’s two hour and 20 minute runtime. Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton gave the White Witch a properly devilish seductiveness as the villain, but here King Miraz is just, well, there.
James McAvoy had charm as the Faun in “Wardrobe.” Here we get Eddie Izzard as a swashbuckling mouse, who mostly runs around acting as if he doesn’t want to get swallowed by the eerily similar Puss-in-Boots from “Shrek.” Prince Caspian, played by Ben Barnes, is boring. As a Telmarine he is forced to talk in an accent that is somewhere between English and Spanish and looking serious all the time.
Not that they were better the first time around, but the movie was exciting and magical enough to distract from its shortcomings. “Caspian” is all shortcomings. Sometimes it is boring, sometimes it is annoying, other times it is aggravating. Aslan is not even smart anymore. He has nothing wise to say. When Lucy finally finds him she asks why he didn’t come and help them sooner. He asks why she didn’t come find him. That seems a little lazy for a Christ-lion to say, especially when the kid has been believing in himall along.
Sure we are treated to battles and vast landscapes but we have seen this all before. It seems unless a movie has hobbits or Hogwart’s, the fantasy genre is on its last leg. There’s something strange about watching kids stab soldiers’ faces while cuddly badgers and bears applaud in a PG Disney movie. This movie wants to be everything, yet falls short.
If Andrew Adamson, the director of both “Narnias,” was a magician the first time around, here we’re seeing the sleight of hand behind his tricks. Whatever magic there was in the first film is lost here to a technical CG-fest that lacks heart.
Josh Moorhead can be reached at [email protected].
