REVIEW: "Prince Caspian"

[rj_anderson]

Overall I enjoyed it, but I'm not itching to run out and see it again. IMO this movie suffered from two of the same problems that made me dislike the Jackson LotR films:

1. Waaaaaaaaaaay too much fighting. Battle scenes on a scale far beyond anything Lewis ever described, plus a bunch of extra fight sequences not even alluded to in the book -- no wonder this movie was so long, they had about 2 hours of constant yelling, hacking at each other with swords, fighting fighting fighting. And I even like swordfights and archery and all that if it's well done, which this was -- just WAY TOO MUCH OF IT. I felt numb by the time it was over.

2. Noble characters made to behave like utter prats, presumably in the interests of humanizing them and creating more dramatic tension, but ultimately just making them unsympathetic. Dudes. I should not want to beat on Peter Pevensie with a clue stick, it's just wrong.

On the plus side, however -- and there were quite a few plusses I didn't even expect:

As I was forewarned by others who had seen the film, Reepicheep is indeed > Everyone. Which is totally cool with me.

Y HELO THAR SKANDAR KEYNES. Also, he is exactly the right size, build, age and coloring to play Timothy in my mental movie of Wayfarer, which was an unexpected and delightful bonus. And throughout the whole movie we get Edmund bringing the awesome, again and again. Loved him taking down the White Witch (so fitting), and yet not even looking particularly triumphant about it, just doing what's got to be done. And when he goes to Miraz with Peter's challenge, and oh-so-mildly mentions that he's not a Prince, he's a King. Confidence without arrogance = much, much love.

Ben Barnes is so pretty he's boring to look at, and nothing whatsoever like the Caspian in my head, but he did a nice job of acting.

I should have been laughing scornfully at the "Susan the Warrior Queen" motif, except that Anna Popplewell made it look so cool. I love me some competence, especially with a skill as nifty as archery.

Lucy. Sweet without being saccharine, and showing the same steadfast yet believably human faith she does in the book.

I'd say three out of five stars. Would have been much better if the fighting had been cut back and more time given to humor and character development. It's hard to care that much about people you've barely got to know, especially when some of them are behaving like the aforementioned utter prats.

ETA: If you have seen and reviewed this film in your LJ, can you drop me a link in Comments? I know I had to skip at least two or three reviews on my f-list for fear of spoiling or prejudicing myself...

Comments

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

I wholeheartedly agree with every aspect of this review. Less fighting, more character development, humor, and philosophy, please. I was glad that they gave Susan *something to do*. The movie wouldn't have worked with Lewis's "you've been given a bow and arrows in a symbolic sense only--as a woman, you shouldn't use them to do anything *useful*" theme. Nothing against Lewis, he was a man of his time and thoroughly more forward-looking than many. I just loved the Susan-pwning-the-horsemen scene.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

I have to say that the battle sequences didn't bother me that much. Probably because the tactics in the last battle actually made sense, unlike in LOTR where you had cavalry charging *fixed pikes*. They made the encirclement visually distinctive and very clear.

Susan rocked. It makes sense that if she *has* a bow, that she should get to use it.

I did also love how the Telmarine lords kept throwing Miraz under the bus -- they did it so skillful, and with such straight faces.

And Edmund was wonderful -- much more interesting than Peter, who unfortunately had to carry a lot of the tension in movie.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I did also love how the Telmarine lords kept throwing Miraz under the bus

Oh, yes, that was beautiful. I was gleeful over that, definitely. And even a little happy that they cheated and kept Sopespian alive at the end.

[leah-s.livejournal.com]

I wrote only a two line review in my LJ basically agreeing with yours. Way too much fighting. Lots of gory eye-candy and very little character development. I loved the Pevensies from the first novel/ movie but I stopped caring about any of them (except maybe Edmund- who was starting to come into his own) by the end of the film.
And I have to disagree about Susan and the fighting. I actually think it took away from the deeper relationship that she had with Aslan when the two girls experienced the tree-awakening. They left that part out entirely and instead give us another Elizabeth Swann. Disney has made enough of those, I think.

[drmm.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind the fighting, since I can't honestly see making Caspian into a movie without at least a bit of extra fighting. However, I loathed the whole 'Peter is an arrogant prat' bit. Peter was supposed to be this nice noble character (like Faramir in LotR, actually) and he wasn't. I'd heard rumors about the whole Caspian/Susan semi-romance and was very dubious. I'm still not sure what to think about it; given what happens to Susan as of The Last Battle, it's utterly within her character (although she seemed a bit too serious about it to be foreshadowing). However, I don't think it did anything useful for the actual story. What I missed most of all was the character development of Caspian. He had none and all the time that could've been spent on that, went into the stupid Peter is Prat storyline. There were a few scenes where he shows a bit of personality but overall, I was bored.

My favorite bits:

1. Trumpkin was made of awesome.

2. So was Reepicheep.

3. Edumund was the best, I agree. I would actually have loved to have had him approach the White Witch from the front and say something like: "I don't make the same mistake twice."

4. Miraz and the politics were utterly brilliant.

[dreagoddess.livejournal.com]

I agree on everything, especially Edmund! He totally rocked. I really need an Edmund icon. :)

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Well, my sister and I saw it twice. My initial review was here:

http://mary-j-59.livejournal.com/27372.html#cutid1

Things I'd like to add: some people on Narniaweb and Granger's board were upset that Lucy didn't really see Aslan. Wrong. She *did* see him; we, in the audience, did not (I'm thinking of the crossing-the-gorge scene) and were placed in the position of her older siblings and Trumpkin. I thought this was brilliant! Deirdre, in her review for Narniaweb, pointed out that it was also really good that Prunaprismia and the baby got some characterization, and some closure. We, and the friend we saw it with, absolutely loved how the story showed, through its action and characters, the need for trust, humility, and forgiveness. It was very clear without being too heavy handed, and in this it was like the book.

I do agree there were too many battles, however. And I had mixed feelings about what they did to Peter. Susan (including the kiss) I basically liked.

Getting long, and it's late, so I'll stop now!

[alphabet26.livejournal.com]

I reviewed it here (http://alphabet26.livejournal.com/290775.html). The quick, two line summary is that as an adaptation, I hated it, but as a movie, it was pretty okay. I elaborate more at my LJ.

[tree_and_leaf]

Sigh. Why do they have to put enormous fight scenes into everything? Still, I'd like to see the film, but I've no idea when it will come out in Germany.

I'm baffled by the Susan/Caspian people keep mentioning, but I suppose (a) it explains the sudden rash of fan-fic and (b) anything that discourages incest fics is probably not entirely bad.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

The Susan/Caspian is somewhat less prominent than I had been led to believe -- I actually got a kick out of it, though I don't believe it for an instant.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Dudes. I should not want to beat on Peter Pevensie with a clue stick, it's just wrong.

EXACTLY.

And word to the Edmund/Skandar love.

I should have been laughing scornfully at the "Susan the Warrior Queen" motif, except that Anna Popplewell made it look so cool.

Yeah, so true.

[my_daroga]

I need to actually write a review, which I haven't. But I agree with the fighting--I feel that both Narnia films have suffered greatly from trying to "live up" to the LotR films, which they shouldn't. One of the things I like about the books is how relatively quiet they are in scope, and attempting to wrench Epic from them doesn't do me or them any favors.

Edmund pwnd indeed, and he was one of the best parts of the film for me. Also Dinklage as Trumpkin. Caspian was far too old, and that added to the petulant brat factor--I couldn't understand how anyone as old as he looked 1) survived that long under his uncle's thumb and 2) didn't do a damn thing about the situation (which contributed, no doubt, to his uncle not doing anything about him for so long). It just makes him look weak, that he's grown to adulthood without any of the qualities I'd want in the next king of Narnia. It makes much more sense, and is a better story, to make it about him "becoming a man" or whatever in extraordinary circumstances. Not recalling belatedly that, hey, maybe he's a man?

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

It just makes him look weak, that he's grown to adulthood without any of the qualities I'd want in the next king of Narnia. It makes much more sense, and is a better story, to make it about him "becoming a man" or whatever in extraordinary circumstances. Not recalling belatedly that, hey, maybe he's a man?

Oh, yes, well said!

[my_daroga]

Thanks. And of course, I don't mean as opposed to a woman or weak non-manly male. Which it looks like, a bit, out of context!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I took "becoming a man" as meaning "coming to maturity". No worries. :)

[kerravonsen]

I've seen it now: here.

I agree with you about the utter pratness of Peter (and Caspian). (sigh)

And also agree that Reepicheep pwns everyone. And Edmund is tops.