rj_anderson | REVIEW: "Prince Caspian"

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...