Chalk and cheese

We went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian last night. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening minus the rugrat, with a reasonable movie. I was looking forward to seeing how they had turned one of the better Narnia books into a film. Most of all, I was looking forward to seeing Andrew Adamson's latest offering.

We were blown away. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW) was well done, reasonably acted (although not fabulous), with a wonderful score and great effects. Prince Caspian left it for dead (it helped that Weta Workshops was involved with the armour and models and the like) - the acting was excellent, the script was fantastic, and the battle scenes really well done. The four actors playing the Pevensie children (William Moseley as Peter, Anna Popplewell as Susan, Skandar Keynes as Edmund, and Georgie Henley as a very convincing Lucy) have grown into real actors - I was particularly impressed with William's Peter and Georgie's Lucy. Ben Barnes as Caspian was a good choice - eye candy and good acting, although at times a little stilted, but that may have been the accent (sort of Spanish).

There were some interesting twists for those of us that know the book. There was a lot more character acting, in the sense that it wasn't a cheerful fantasy romp like LWW was sometimes - lots of dark overtones, inter-character issues (especially between Peter and Caspian, which were well done), and the Pevensie children all had much more complexity than the book offers. I was particularly interested in seeing Peter's struggles to adapt from being a High King in Narnia to being just a schoolboy in England, and then going back to Narnia to find someone else was leading it.... William Moseley did a fabulous job conveying this. Lucy was much more grown up - partly because Georgie Henley is older and could give more to the role. Skandar's Edmund was quieter and more grave than in the first movie, but he had some key scenes (especially in Aslan's Howe) that showed how much growth his character had undergone.

The battle scenes, instead of skirmishes and hit-and-run battles like in the book had a set-piece in front of Aslan's Howe, and an earlier one in an invasion of Miraz's castle (usurper-king) - the invasion of the castle isn't in the book but it was a glorious idea that didn't quite come off for Peter - but the plan was excellent (however, Peter failed to learn that people don't do as they're told....!).

All in all, excellent. In terms of the obvious comparison, I think LWW was not as good as Fellowship of the Ring, but that Caspian is better than The Two Towers, and at least as good as The Return of the King - in some ways it's better (no false endings!), although the ending isn't quite as satisfying as RotK. Both Narnia movies are a lot better than any of the Harry Potter movies - I've seen all the movies, but mostly because I'm a Potterhead. The books are better by far!

Personal rating for Caspian: 8/10. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.

Pachyderm