"Prince Caspian," the second installment in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, takes the same path as many other sequels before it: make it darker, make it scarier. Disney pulls out all the stops in a movie that will probably scare parents more than their children.
The movie stars Ben Barnes as Caspian X, prince of the Telmarines, a race that has invaded Narnia and hunted its native fairy tale creatures to near extinction. He flees his usurping uncle Miraz, who is out to make sure that Caspian can never challenge Miraz’s reign as king. After running from the castle, Caspian joins forces with the Narnian underground to take back control of Narnia. Meanwhile, while thirteen hundred years have passed for the Narnians, only one year has passed for the four Pevensie children in England, who are having a tough time adjusting to being children again, having been kings and queens in Narnia for so many years. They find themselves pulled back into their fantasy world once again, and join the fight to free Narnia.
Fans of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" will enjoy its sequel. "Caspian" has a similar tone and style, delivering a solid movie without too many surprises. Epic battle scenes, mythical creatures, and children playing soldier are all pretty much the standard for Narnia. However, there is a bit of a surprise in newcomer Ben Barnes. Easily the best performer on the screen, if the 26-year-old actor plays his cards right, he could be the next Antonio Banderas. He brings a presence to the screen not usually seen in an actor so inexperienced. In the end, however, Eddie Izzard steals the show as the voice of Reepicheep, the dashing mouse warrior.
The movie features some beautiful large-scale shots of the countryside, great creature effects and intense battles. Some of the scene are downright frightening, a surprising move for such a family-friendly franchise. While the first film didn’t skimp on the scariness, either, this one adds heavy themes of war, death and revenge into the mix. Too often movies will shy away from terrifying villains and make the bad guys more cartoonish, to pacify over-sensitive parents. It’s nice to see a return to films that don’t underestimate the endurance of the younger viewers.
"Caspian" provides another enjoyable installment in an easily marketable franchise. It lives up to fans’ expectations quite well, delivering a good re-telling of the classic book with only a few additions and changes in the pacing. I’m already looking forward to the next film, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (2010). If it’s anything like this one, I won’t be disappointed.
