Movie Review - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I just got back from bringing some of the children in our Children's Network to see The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian, and I thought I would write a few words about it.

First off, I liked it, quite a bit better, actually, than it's predecessor, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While the first film stayed quite true to the source material, this film deviates quite a bit from the novel, with good results. I believe that director Andrew Adamson stayed true to the spirit of the source, while crafting and interesting and exciting action film.

I'm not going to run through the entire plot of the film, but I did want to hit some highlights. First off, the CG effects are outstanding. While I'm not enamoured of the idea of the "river god", either in the books or the film, I do have to say that the effect was incredible. The battle scenes were exciting and well paced, and did not drag on to long, a problem in a couple of the Lord of the Rings films.

The characters were well done as well, especially the Narnians. I especially liked Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, the grumpy red dwarf, and Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepacheep, the Errol Flynn-channeling mouse. Both of them took on quite a bit more life than I remember from the book.

One noticeable difference was the reduction of the role of Aslan, the Lion. While quite active in the novel, Aslan is consicuously absent through most of the film, although the inference is that he is in control of everything, anyway.

Now Christian and non-Christians alike will debate the role of Aslan in the stories - is he supposed to be Jesus, or not? Is The Chronicles of Narnia an allegory for Christianity? I would say no, not an allegory. C.S. Lewis has been quoted as saying that Aslan does not represent Jesus; he is Jesus in the story told another way. You can get into the theology of it all you like, and I'd be happy to engage in that discussion. But Aslan does embody a Christ-like persona, especially in his dialogues with young Lucy. One of the things that Aslan's absence brings to the film is that the Pevensie children get to make their own mistakes, and get to learn along the way. But Aslan's gentle wisdom flows throughout his scenes, as it does in the movie.

Having read the novel, the end was predictable enough for me. If you haven't seen it yet, suffice it to say that we all must grow up sometime, both in life and in faith.

I would certainly recommend this film. In fact, I will probably see it again without seventeen kids in tow. It is suitable for children who are not startled easily, there are swordfights and battles, but no blood to speak of. There is no swearing and one short kiss at the end. A good time was had by all.

Seen it? Agree, disagree? Comment away...