While I generally enjoyed this second entry in the Narnia franchise, I definitely found it weaker than the first installment. Featuring some world class visual effects work and solid production design, the story comes through as little more than functional.

Writing: I read at least a few of the Narnia books a couple decades ago, and I think I read Prince Caspian. I don’t remember it in much detail, though. A fair amount of the movie did seem familiar to me, so I assume it’s one of the ones I read. That said, I don’t remember it anywhere near enough to comment on how faithful it is to the source material. If it is, I can’t say I would probably be all too impressed with the book. The primary structure of the plot is incredibly by-the-numbers, and makes almost no twists or turns that are unexpected. Some elements seem almost arbitrary, while others border on not making sense (like the logistics of the castle raid, or why it failed). Aside from one nice touch of originality in the big final battle sequence (the underground bit), it all either smacked of been-there-done-that or saw-that-coming-a-mile-away. Add to that a set of primary characters that haven’t progressed much from the first film (alarmingly so, given that they stick with them having lived all that time in Narnia before returning back to England) and new characters that are lifted cookie-cutter style from every other fantasy/mideival movie ever made.

Production: Pretty much nothing to complain about here. There’s some fantastic visual effects work to be found in the film. Plenty of it is in some wonderful animal animation. Battle sequences look great as well. There are a few little bits and pieces here and there, particularly in the battle, that smack a bit of CGI animated movement, but they are surrounded by enough excellent work as to not be all too noticeable. The cinematography by Karl Walter Lindenlaub is excellent. Perhaps not entirely inventive, but energetic and nicely stylish. The editing could have used some work, but that might be more a weakness of the script than the editing itself. The pacing definitely doesn’t flow all too well. Like the cinematography, the sound design is also solid.

Cast: Our returning siblings do a nice job in their respective roles. Just like in the first film, it’s Georgie Henley and Anna Popplewell that really shine as the sisters. William Moseley and Skandar Keynes do a good enough job as the brothers. Ben Barnes is OK as Prince Caspian, I guess. I know it’s such a superficial thing, but his accent just seems out of place in the film, and almost a bit goofy. Still, his performance is empathetic enough. Though like much of the film, his character is little more than functional. The excellent Peter Dinklage does a nice job with the also-functional loyal Narnian companion Trumpkin. And hey, if you’re gonna cast short people who live in the woods, you can’t pass up casting Warwick Davis. It’s movie-making law, after all. The rest of the cast does a decent enough job.

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams has a few moments of originality in his score (particularly with the rodent creatures), but the vast majority of this sequel’s score is lifted straight from his superior work for the first film. If there’s a lot of originality, it escaped me both in the film and on the soundtrack CD. Still, it’s a solid enough score. While heavily lifted from the first film, at least it’s lifting stuff from a great score. And hey, Gregson-Willimas got to do a brief voice cameo as a squirrel.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.