Disney-fied but decent (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (DVD))

Member Name: scarletcanary

Product:	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (DVD)
Date:	14/10/09 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks nice

Disadvantages: A little too far from the book.

*****Film only review*****

Prince Caspian is based on the book of the same name by CS Lewis, and is a loose sequel to the lion the witch and the wardrobe.

The Pevensies are magically recalled to Narnia, but in their absense Narnia has become a different place- ruled over by King Mizras most of the talking animals have become dumb beasts, and the rest have gone into hiding- Narnia has lost it's magic.

When Mizras has his own son he plans to get rid of his stepson, Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, but aided by his tutor, Dr Cornelius, Caspian escapes into the care of a small band of old Narnians. Together they decide to overthow Mizras and call up the old Kings and Queens to help them.


I found this film when compared to the book to be a little dissapointing- it did not stick to the book all that well, and the character of Caspian was turned from a charming, sensitive soul into a bitter, arrogant young man.

The film loses much of the novel's visual poetry and interesting characters, prefering to concentrate on extended battle scenes (going as far as to add a whole new one.). The book, I will point out, is not a epic, running to under 200 pages but much has been cut and altered to a degree that most of the main point is lost- the book is a good, healthy moral tale and the film is enjoyable, but forgettable fluff.

However, when not compared to the book it is a good film, Disney doing what Disney does, and making use of their CGI studio. Despite the plot and character changes it all fits together rather well and looks very nice, even if it does use the now cliched New Zealand location.

The performances are good, my personal favourite being the act of genius that is Eddie Izzard providing the voice of Reepicheep.

It is rated as a PG, despite the fighting since it has no blood (or very little), and can now be picked up very cheap, so worth a watch.

Summary: Overall this is a nice piece of fluff that will entertain most.