The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-Fantasy



The Fantasy genre has been going strong for the past few years, with a special thanks to the "Lord of the Rings" series. Since then every film in the same format copies the style of the predecessor (I'm looking at you 'Eragon'!).

A small handful of movies do reach the mark and the same Epic Scale of 'LotR' and "The Chronicles of Narnia" is a definite contender.


The first film was a great experience introducing the characters, their flaws, as well as the Landscape of Narnia, fully showing you the world that they entered through the wardrobe. If anything it was a nice tale for the whole family, but lacked any real teeth due to its childlike feel and light on violence story took away from the 'Final Battle' in the end of the film, leaving the viewers with a bloodless battle making the event with low stakes.

Synopsis:

The kids return to Narnia after 1 year (our time) but their return was a bit of a shock. Their kingdom that they left behind are in ruins, the ones they loved and befriended are long gone and it is 500 years since they last stepped foot in the magical land. The Lion King of Narnia 'Aslan' is but a myth and is not heard from in 500 years as well. An evil kingdom forcing the Narnians into hiding the kids with the help of Prince Caspian must stop the kingdom from destroying whats left of Narnia and bring peace between both lands.

All-in-All:

To be completely honest, I really didn't like the first movie. Yea, I know... 'How could you!' or 'Shut that mouth before I give you a sound thrashing' must be the knee jerk reaction from most of you but again, the first film didn't have any bit to it and the battles were neutered due to its 'Safe' childlike sequences.

This film is a far departure from the first one and dips into a darker side of Narnia were the world isn't a friendly place and hope is but a luxury. You fear for the lives of the characters and the people they are responsible for, and in the middle of it you finally find hope. This is a massive improvement on the first film, the lasting effect in its 'Universe' that changes the status quo saying goodbye to characters you've grown to love. It was a delightful surprise making a fan out of me and cant wait for the next instalment.

Riko's Rating: A