“Things never happen the same way twice.”
C.S. Lewis created an incredibly imaginative world when he wrote his Chronicles Of Narnia. The stories were an escape, of sorts, from a war torn Europe. They integrated elements of Christianity in an effort to provide a semblance of hope in the form of a children’s fairy tale. And like all such tales, the world of Narnia was first and foremost a place of magic and bewilderment. It was a place where fantastic creatures of both good and evil thrived, living out epic lives of adventure. It was also a world where only children could enter. The stories became hugely popular, first in England, and eventually around the globe. Since that time we live in a different planet than the one Lewis was attempting to offer a respite from. Still, the images and ideals are remarkably relevant today. With such sweeping grand adventures and marvelous creatures, it’s no surprise that the franchise has found its way into films. The only real mystery is why it took so long. Perhaps it was necessary for the technology to finally catch up, providing a far more realistic and captivating experience. Some credit must also go to the enormous success of the Harry Potter and even the Lord Of The Rings films. With the investment of time and money required to bring such a world into existence on celluloid, there must be some reasonable assurance that, if done correctly, there was a large enough profit to be found. These earlier, and continuing, franchises have overwhelmingly proven that point. It was only a matter of time before the studio that practically invented movie magic would find such a place as Narnia and claim it for their own. When you combine these extraordinary histories together, can there be any question as to the results?
The first film in the series was everything fans of the books hoped it would be. Groundbreaking f/x and clever scripting culled the best moments from the material and wove them into a delicately balanced tapestry. The f/x brought these creatures to life, but not merely in a photorealistic way that talented animators are now capable of. Disney was able to breathe more than life into the likes of these creatures. In Aslan the lion, in particular, there is a spirit; a soul, if you will. With that film Narnia was a warm place amid the blustery snows of a severe Winter. We found sweet and lovable talking animals and harsh evil creatures led by a witch of unimaginable powers. By the time we left, Disney had done its job well, and we were eager to return, and return we did.
It’s been a year for the Pevensie children since their rousing adventure in Narnia. They are having a difficult time adjusting to the mundane world they live in now. As they relive their experiences in a subway station they are suddenly recalled to Narnia. Here they find the season a warmer one, but Narnia appears to be nothing but ruin. While for them it has only been a year, it’s been thousands in Narnia.They find that Narnia was overrun and now the remaining citizens live in exile. Prince Caspian has vowed to return Narnia to the Narnians and reign as a peaceful monarch. His uncle, King Miraz, has other plans. He intends his own son shall inherit the throne. That means Caspian must die. As he flees, Caspian is brought together with the Pevensie children who have been summoned by his horn. While Peter and Caspian have rather different ideas of how to win the fight ahead, they do manage to unite the hidden forces of Narnia. Once again the children are called upon to lead a fight to save Narnia.
First and foremost, it’s important to remark here that Prince Caspian is not merely a retread of the first film. This film is much darker, and Narnia is a far different place. Unfortunately, the film did not do as well as the first, which has already caused budget cuts for the third film and an uncertain future for the fourth. I applaud the bravery, however, of allowing this film to follow its own tone. If you enter this film expecting more of the same, you will be somewhat disappointed. Aslan plays an extremely limited role in this film. The badgers that provided the comic relief to the first film are gone. They have been replaced with two characters that offer the same comic relief and warmth. Reepicheep is a swashbuckling mouse with an inferiority complex about being a mouse, although he’s an expert with his blade. Trufflehunter is a wise old badger who carries the legend of the children and mentors the young Prince Caspian. The children are older, and particularly the Lucy character is no longer the sweet oblivious innocent she was in the first film. The character has matured, somewhat awkwardly, as has the actress herself. I found myself far less sympathetic to her this time around. Georgie Henley was a wide-eyed child actress amazed as much in real life by the first time experience of making this huge film as Lucy was with Narnia. Now both are jaded, and it’s a rather unfortunate aspect of reality intruding upon fantasy. William Moseley more than makes up for her shortcomings with a far more determined and confident Peter. It’s equally unfortunate that this is the last we will see of Moseley or Peter in the land of Narnia. I found myself more compelled by his story than that of the titular Prince Caspian himself, played quite nicely by Ben Barnes. The character grows and changes throughout the film, something Barnes did a very sweet job of portraying. Also playing out her last moments in Narnia is actress Anna Popplewell. Her character, Susan, has also outgrown Narnia and will no longer return. Her maturity was an asset to the film as much as Henley’s was a liability. She’s a much stronger character here, helped with a much nicer performance. Finally we have Skandar Keynes as Edmund, unarguably the weakest link in both films. It’s a shame. but neither the actor nor the character impresses. He appears in the background even when he’s called upon to take the lead. He could vanish from the film altogether without being missed. I can’t say if it’s just a bad character, poorly conceived and written, or just a bad actor. The truth is likely a little of each. The standout performance here is Peter Dinklage who plays the dwarf Trumpkin. Even with a face full of prosthics and yak hair, he manages to emote in a performance that reminds me a lot of Roddy McDowall’s ability to make his ape’s makeup come alive. He was perfectly cast in the role and steals every scene he’s in, so much so that I very quickly began to see this as his story rather than that of the children. Finally, another good performance is delivered by Sergio Castellitto as King Miraz. The king is the bad guy in the film, but he’s played with so much depth that we never really see him as just the villain here. His motives are often understandable, if abhorrent. That’s the way bad guys should be played. A bad guy should never believe he’s a bad guy. That’s what made characters like Vito Corleone and Vic Mackey so compelling to watch.
Video
Prince Caspian is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. It’s important that a transfer capture as much depth and detail as possible in order for us to buy into such a fantastic story. I’m happy to report that it’s all good. This is a sweet 1080p image provided through an AVC/MPEG4 codec. Colors are as brilliant as you remember from the first film. In fact, without all of that white snow and ice you get a far more stimulating palette here. Contrast and sharpness are near perfect. Flesh tones are particularly spot on here. The look of the ocean in the early scenes of Narnia is simply breathtaking. The image captures such subtle color shading and brilliance that you just want to jump right in and explore the reefs. That was likely one of my favorite images in Blu-ray thus far. Black levels are strong, although most of this film takes place in the light. The integration of digital f/x and live photography is flawless even at this high of definition. Aslan, what little we see of him, is more realistic than ever. The movement of hair is astonishing, to say the least. You won’t find any artifact or compression worries, and the print is a pristine one. Nothing at all to bicker about here.
Audio
The film appears capable of lossless 7.1 sound. I regret to inform that while my amp is capable of that format, I have not yet added the 2 speakers to complete that configuration. Still, from a DTS –HD 5.1 stand point, the film delivers everything. It’s presented at an uncompressed 1.5 mbps. Sub response is wonderful, giving your room that nice shake when necessary. The score is a great one, and it has some very fine moments in this presentation. You can’t help but get swept away with it all. All the while dialog comes through exactly as it should. Ambient sounds are used to good advantage. From subtle creaking to full on battle cries, you get an immersive experience throughout the film.
There is an engaging Audio Commentary with Andrew Adamson who has returned from the first film to continue our Narnia journey. He talks about how he originally intended not to follow up the film, not really liking working with children all that much. To his surprise he found himself bonding to the kids, particularly the youngest, Henley. He’s joined here by many of the actors, and it’s easy to see why he decided to come back. They obviously have bonded here.
Special Features
This is a 3-disc set. The third disc is a digital copy of the film for your portable devices. The first disc contains the film something called Circle-Vision Interactive. It’s really an overcomplicated way to access several short clips about the making of the film.
On Disc Two you’ll find the following extras, all in HD. I also rather enjoyed the menu system here. As you click on each feature you get a brief description and the feature’s running time. Disney deserves a slap on the back for that courtesy.
Everything also falls under the heading of Behind The Magic. It’s an unnecessary step as it is the only heading and everything here falls under it.
Inside Narnia – The Adventure Returns: This half hour feature deals mostly with the logistics of putting together the film. There is a ton of candid moments with the cast and crew. Weather, early mornings, and biting ticks are just some of the obstacles explored here. The final 10 minutes deals with the children both as actors and characters.
Sets Of Narnia – A Classic Comes To Life: This 23 minute feature compares and contrasts the source material with what into making the film. The son of C.S. Lewis reads passages that offer descriptions of places in the original story. We are then brought on the set and shown how that place or event was created on film.
Big Movie Comes To A Small Town: The Slovenian town of Bovec hosts the cast and crew of the film. This feature explores how the town and film crew interacted. You see what impact they had on each other. Many locals offer up descriptions of their home. Much of the piece focuses on the building of a bridge to cross the environmentally sensitive Soca River.
Pre-Visualizing Narnia: This 10 minute piece looks at the pre-vis process. It’s an animated evolution of the storyboards.
Talking Animals And Walking Trees: Cast and crew spend about 5 minutes talking about the various non-human aspects of Narnia.
Deleted Scenes: There are 10 in all, and you can view them individually or with the handy play all option. You can also access an audio intro to each by Andrew Adamson. Most are rather short and add little to what’s already there. Some have f/x sequences that are unfinished, which indicates many of these bits were deleted early in the process.
The Bloopers Of Narnia: 3 minutes of fun and flubs.
Secrets Of The Duel: Every aspect of the film’s duel.
Becoming Trumpkin: A fitting profile of Peter Dinklage. It’s somewhat of a love fest for the 5 minute run time.
Warwick Davis – The Man Behind Nikabrik: This is a video diary that takes us through a day on the set of Narnia with Davis. Obviously a lot of time is spent in makeup. It’s 11 minutes long.
Final Thoughts
Call it Lord Of The Rings lite. Fantastic enough, but less filling. For some reason this film reminded me more of that trilogy than the first Narnia film. The creatures appeared the kinds of denizens of Middle Earth, with the exception of the talking animals. Unfortunately Adamson brings his Shrek roots to this film more than the first. The mouse is so obviously Puss in Boots from Shrek, but still a good character. Unfortunately for all concerned, it was a pretty big disappointment at the box office. There is already talk of slashing the Dawn Treader budget and cutting out future films altogether. This is not as good a film as the first, but it’s certainly not a disappointment. There are even ways in which it is as good as or better than the first. I think most people were looking for just a copy of what came before. I know I would have liked to have seen more of Aslan. The film does stand on its own, and perhaps DVD and Blu-ray sales will return some confidence to Disney in the franchise. Unfortunately you won’t be able to leave the next one with that same feelings you left the first two films. You know the one where “you always knew you were coming back, didn’t you?”
