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I had the pleasure to see Prince Caspian on its opening day. This film is based on the second of the Narnia Chronicles written by C. S. Lewis (in terms of Narnian history, it is the fourth book). The story is one that of a contested throne and civil war. Miraz, a Telemarine (humans who invaded Narnia many years before) is acting ruler of Narnia and guardian of his nephew Caspian, the true prince. So long as Miraz is childless, he is content to hold the throne for Caspian; but once Miraz has a son, Caspian’s life is in danger. Cornelius, Caspian’s tutor (and one who has told him about the old Narnians who are currently suppressed by the Telemarines), sends Caspian into the wilds for his safety. He is given Susan’s horn which can summon help in the hour of great peril. In the wild woods Caspian encounters the old Narnians and blows the horn. This summons the Pevensie children back into Narnia, one year in our world after they had left but 1300 years later in Narnian time. The Pevensies link up with Caspian and the old Narnian creatures to reclaim the throne for Caspian and restore the Narnians to their rightful position in the land.

The movie takes some liberties with the book, some of which are improvements in the story-telling. One example- the book sticks to the Pevensie children’s point-of-view in telling the story, which makes for a long digression to ‘catch up’ the reader to the current situation in Narnia once the children arrive there. The movie starts in Narnia, then cuts between the parallel story lines of Caspian and the Pevensies. Not all the changes are for the better. One part of the book which was ignored was the introduction of Caspian to the creatures of old Narnia; this was, to my opinion, the greatest loss (and a mistake) in translating the book into this movie.

I found that the characters of the Pevensie children and Caspian were more developed in the movie than in the book; they behaved like adolescents. In terms of plot additions, there was a whole campaign and battle scene added. I suspect this was largely to ‘ramp up’ the action factor in the movie; but it also served to illustrate a point of the book, that of the importance of waiting for Aslan.

Which brings up the most important question - How faithful was the movie to Lewis’ moral vision and themes? I’d say that it was quite true to those. The theme of being tempted to take matters into one’s own hands rather than waiting for Aslan was actually highlighted by a number of the changes.

I would give the film 3 stars out of 4 (deducting for the deleting the Caspian’s introduction to the Narnians and the over-wrought battle scenes/violence); the running time is 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Amen! I saw it on opening day too. Liked it quite a lot. Still prefer LWW. Long live Narnia!