Prince Caspian has to be one of the most difficult of the Narnia books to translate onto the screen. The first several chapters involve walking around in the woods, lots of talking, an extended flashback, and 1300 years of history to cover. Therefore, I cannot criticize the writers for deviating from the story. In fact, I have to give them credit: their **ideas** for re-inventing Prince Caspian were phenomenal.
The execution of those ideas could have been much, much better.
When we begin, we see that Peter is struggling with re-adjusting to life as an English schoolboy after being a Narnian king. (beautiful idea!) We see him trying to prove himself to his schoolmates and acting out his aggression on some poor soul who bumped him. We later see him challenging Caspian publicly, refusing to wait for Aslan, acting as the Narnain leader himself, failing miserably in battle (and it was a beautifully choreographed battle), spilling buckets of Narnian blood.........
.....and then what happens? Well, he still doesn't wait for Aslan, and he still acts as the Narnian leader, and he's nearly sucked into Jadis' temptation, and he **never once has a turn-around moment.** The writers *almost* gave him one, then Lucy is given the lame line of "Maybe Aslan is waiting for us to prove ourselves." Isn't that what Peter has been doing all along? There was no turning point/redemption/learning curve to this character. Now, since he can't come back to Narnia, he will never have one.
True, he did hand over his sword at the end and say, "We're not needed here anymore." But after the level of conflict and tension that the movie had developed, that scene had all the effect of someone telling a toddler, "You have to share your toys."
Caspian is simply never given a chance to be anything other than confused in this movie. He has very little character development. While he is allowed to be merciful, he's never allowed to grow into a king.
Susan was given a great reason to become bitter against Narnia in future movies, so her character was at least given a great set-up. Other than that, she said and did very little.
Why was Lucy riding into the forest? Did they think she could summon Aslan? Wake the trees? Find more Narnians? Well, we *were* lucky that Aslan showed up, like Athena on a rope and pulley, to save the day just in time. :(
All-in-all, I was disappointed. I was *thrilled* that the writers had come up with good ideas for adapting the book to the screen. But if they'd spent half as much time developing these story lines as the visual guys did developing the River-god or the gryphons, then it could have been a great movie. As it was, it gets a C+ at best.
The execution of those ideas could have been much, much better.
When we begin, we see that Peter is struggling with re-adjusting to life as an English schoolboy after being a Narnian king. (beautiful idea!) We see him trying to prove himself to his schoolmates and acting out his aggression on some poor soul who bumped him. We later see him challenging Caspian publicly, refusing to wait for Aslan, acting as the Narnain leader himself, failing miserably in battle (and it was a beautifully choreographed battle), spilling buckets of Narnian blood.........
.....and then what happens? Well, he still doesn't wait for Aslan, and he still acts as the Narnian leader, and he's nearly sucked into Jadis' temptation, and he **never once has a turn-around moment.** The writers *almost* gave him one, then Lucy is given the lame line of "Maybe Aslan is waiting for us to prove ourselves." Isn't that what Peter has been doing all along? There was no turning point/redemption/learning curve to this character. Now, since he can't come back to Narnia, he will never have one.
True, he did hand over his sword at the end and say, "We're not needed here anymore." But after the level of conflict and tension that the movie had developed, that scene had all the effect of someone telling a toddler, "You have to share your toys."
Caspian is simply never given a chance to be anything other than confused in this movie. He has very little character development. While he is allowed to be merciful, he's never allowed to grow into a king.
Susan was given a great reason to become bitter against Narnia in future movies, so her character was at least given a great set-up. Other than that, she said and did very little.
Why was Lucy riding into the forest? Did they think she could summon Aslan? Wake the trees? Find more Narnians? Well, we *were* lucky that Aslan showed up, like Athena on a rope and pulley, to save the day just in time. :(
All-in-all, I was disappointed. I was *thrilled* that the writers had come up with good ideas for adapting the book to the screen. But if they'd spent half as much time developing these story lines as the visual guys did developing the River-god or the gryphons, then it could have been a great movie. As it was, it gets a C+ at best.