OK i'll review the two stories separately since they're both, well, separate
PRINCE CASPIAN:
well, the last BBC version was slow moving and drawn out so this one came across as really rushed and crammed. of course Prince Caspian is the weakest of the four books i've read and it doesn't look like much here.
the acting is very divided. the children are all a little older and more comfortable here. Peter's voice has finally broke so it helps improve how his lines sound anyway. Lucy and Susan are both better in this. Edmund's voice is a little weird and hard to take. now the kid playing Caspian is just...omfg. i can see why Disney went with an older actor for their Caspian since this kid is so bad. and there is no extra E in dwarfs, mate. i didn't realise Barbara Kellerman was back in this but it looks like she's calmed down a bit, playing the hag and actually coming across as creepy. its interesting that Trufflehunter was played by a woman, i liked that idea and 'Big Mick' as Trumpkin was good too. i hated Warwick Davis as Reepicheep simply because you cant think of him as a mouse, he stays a midget in a bad mouse costume. the actors playing Nikabrick and Miraz were decent.
the effects are meh. yet again they use hand drawn animation mingled in with live action but its not used as much here so it works.
the setting is very dull looking. i always thought of Narnia as being exotic but we just have a lot of plain English countrysides here. i do like the claustrophobic element of Aslan's How.
the fight between Miraz and Peter is just bad. no suspense and too quick. they are also missing the other huge battles that happened at the end of the book. and no river god either. when i first saw the end i was surprised how it set up the next one.
in short Prince Caspian comes bottom in the ranking of the BBC versions of the Chronicles of Narnia
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER:
need i say "wow!"? this is excellent, best of all of them. it was the best book and they put tonnes of effort into this and it shows
the acting is great. Lucy has improved well and Edmund is decent. the boy playing Eustace does a good job too and the older Caspian knocks the younger one out of the water completely. too bad we have annoying life size Reepicheep again. the acting is terrible when Edmund and Caspian fight on the Deathwater island. i love this exchange: Edmund: "it's all quite plain. he came here on a hot day, took off his clothes, dived in--" Lucy: "Don't!" (her delivery is excellent)
the design for the ship is lovely and very detailed. each of the different places they visit look unique and interesting. another thing that makes this version great is that they only have one brief scene of cartoon animation.
the effects are strange. i was surprised they actually made a sea serpent and dragon to use. they didn't look real but they look better than the puppet Aslan. the scene in the dark island was excellently done.
one of the main reasons i think this worked is because Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a very episodic book and so works as a TV series. i was disappointed that they left out the bit with the mermaids though
