Prince Caspian

[claidheamhmor]

On Saturday we went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Sadly, I was rather disappointed; I thought it was a lightweight re-hash of the first movie, and it left me feeling rather unsatisfied, a bit like sugar-free candy floss.

Some of the specific issues I had were:

• The acting was generally weak. Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian was pretty, but amateurish.


• The movie structure was really just a remake of the first movie. Too much of the same thing.


• The Christian allegory was really in your face, where the first movie didn't really have that (apart from the Santa Claus "WTF?" moment). Sadly, characters being specifically being asked to abandon logical and rational thinking in place of trusting in "maybes" really felt out of place.


• The bit near the end with the giant water elemental (or Poseidon, or whatever) was another WTF moment. It didn't seem to have a place there.


• The weaponry used didn't seem real. Lord of the Rings set the bar for convincing weapons; Prince Caspian goes back a few decades to shiny, fake-looking ornamental weapons and armour that don't have the right heft and balance. Even Peter's chainmail looked like silver-painted wool; it was too light to be real metal. Susan's bow looked like a Chinese-made toy.


• There was deus ex machina after deus ex machina. It seemed like a badly-run D&D session with a lazy DM who couldn't be bothered to think up a plot that hung together. Narnian forces in dire straits? No problem, Aslan will pop into existence and save the day (but only after heaps of them are dead). Bad guy getting away? No problem, a big water elemental will pop out of the river and grab the bridge the bad guy is crossing. It took away all power from the characters - they were just puppets.

All in all, rather a disappointment.

Comments

just my 2 cents, in US currency of course:)

[windrider-09.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed it, I did prep myself to view it as light candy movie with great effects.

My understanding of the Narnian books was that the Christian allegory is extremely heavy, especially later on. I felt that in the movie they did try to lighten it, unfortunately some things like belief in Aslan and disregard of logic in favour of belief was so much a part of the book, that to do otherwise would completely derail the movie, not making it to follow the book.

I loved the elemental, but that's just my love of cool effects speaking:)
BTW, did you not feel the trees coming to defence were too much of a LOTR Ents moment? I know C.S. Lewis was very close friend of Tolkien so maybe the borrowing was some friendly plagiarism?

I do agree with you on other points, but I think I am willing to continue seeing the movies as long as they remain light fluffy fun with cool effects and Ben Barnes yumminess.

I watched Falling Down with Michael Douglas last night and I can definitely say, here is the movie with a message and good content to ponder. Narnia is lovely, but perhaps should not be taken seriously by the more analytical minds.

Re: just my 2 cents, in US currency of course:)

[claidheamhmor]

I thought the elemental was beautifully done...just a bit odd in the context of the film.

As for the trees: it made me think more of Macbeth, but yes, LOTR there too.