Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
Director: Andrew Adamson
Synopsis
'The Chronicles of Narnia' continue with this action packed sequel to the hugely succesful 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'. The four Pevensie children return to Narnia to find that 1,000 years have passed, and the land is now under the control of the evil King Miraz. They team up with the heroic Prince Caspian– and any number of talking beasts and other strange creatures– to put an end to Miraz's cruel reign. Director Andrew Adamson returns, as does the voice of Aslan the Lion, Liam Neeson. New faces (and voices) this time around include Eddie Izzard, Ben Barnes and David Walliams as Bulgy the Bear.
Movie review
From Time Out New York
Given director Andrew Adamson’s background in family-friendly fare (Shrek), how odd is it that his strength as a director lies in managing long battle sequences? Yet, there it is; he makes the two sustained fights—an assault on a castle and the massive final conflict—in this sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe exciting without being gory. His knack for spectacle almost saves Prince Caspian from its lack of connection with the main characters. The four Pevensie children return to Narnia via a Potter-esque magical subway station, only to find that a thousand years have passed, and a bunch of evil Telmarines have driven all talking animals into hiding. The kids teach the rightful royal heir, Caspian (Barnes), that Narnians are people too, and that his uncle is an usurping jerk.
Adamson adjusts to the darker tone nicely, but the kids, so richly drawn in the first film, often seem to be carried along in the wake of the chugging plot. When we are told, near the end, that Peter and the elder Pevensie girl, Susan (Popplewell), have learned a lot from this adventure, it’s unclear exactly what those lessons might be. Something about battle tactics, perhaps?
Author: Hank Sartin
Time Out New York Issue 660: May 22 - 28, 2008
User reviews of this film
-
- Flower said...
- Posted on Feb 01 2009 07:21 The film simply did'nt come up to my standards. I've read all the books, and (the film) Prince Caspian lacks originality. In the LWW, The director settled on an all English film, staying as close to the book as possible. It worked well and the public loved it. JK Rowling stayed English for Harry Potter as well instead of going American and the world loves it. Dont get me wrong, I love lots of American films, but some have to stay to the book. unfortunately, Prince Caspian Ignored these rules. The whole film was put together with constant battles. At the end, the film suddenly turned soppy with Susan saying goodbye to Caspian. Some of us are NOT looking for fighting OR soppy goodbyes. So if your looking for a film based on CSL, keep looking
- Report as inappropriate
-
- rich said...
- Posted on Jul 27 2008 06:34 I loved it i wached it 5 TIMES best i love Narnia it's the best. I hope they do all the books. just stop saying thats a bad movie it was one of the best move i have seen in a long time my favourte character is lucy because Georgie Henley just so good
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Fimble said...
- Posted on Jul 08 2008 14:47 The ending was terrible. How could they do that to those poor little Elephants?
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Optimist said...
- Posted on Jun 27 2008 19:07 The Narnian books have so much to offer in terms of development of character, action, magic, spirituality, originality, period detail and all kinds of intellectual challenge - so why change so much to make a film version? It was good to see battle scenes that reflected the seriously gory original in the book - Peter chops off legs and heads. But the final scene with a soppy farewell between Susan and Prince Caspian ( with the most appalling music ) ruined any feeling of integrity remaining. The actors were all extremely good - my favourite is Edmund - who conveys a sense of a complicated character with subtle skill - and Lucy - with a comic light touch. For future Narnian films, I would like to see a more careful use of language - keep in period - please no modern phrases. There is no need to sell Narnia to us - most of us love it and we don't need romance or overlong battle scenes or unnecessary CGI in order to enjoy the film versions of the books.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Tim said...
- Posted on Jun 18 2008 19:44 This film simply dwells on lots of fighting and loses Narnias 'warmth'. Aslan plays a very disappointing minimal role at the end where everything is suddenly won. Although it is well fimed, the overall plot just chugs through battle scenes. No characters or relationships are developed but just 'appear'. I think CS Lewis's Christian content is more or less lost apart from the usual good vs evil. Overall, a much more raw and sinister Narnia that loses the beauty and spiritual dimension of LWW.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Jane said...
- Posted on Jun 07 2008 12:59 In the LWW it was relatively easy to follow the allegory. In Prince Caspian, it was difficult to get the spiritual message other than the obvious battles between good and evil. I'm still confused about what spiritual role some of the characters played. I was disappointed that it was not easier to obtain the spiritual message in the allegory as a whole.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- sinnyfile said...
- Posted on Jun 03 2008 16:34 In "A Hard Day's Night," Wilfrid Brambell complained that he just been "In a train and a room, and a car and a room, and a room and a room," or something to that effect. I feel the same way about "Prince Caspian"--to me, it's a skirmish and a battle, a fight and a battle, and a battle and a battle--with little breathing room in between. Never mind that there's very little of Lewis' original book this time out; there's very little story and almost nothing of the richness of LWW. Not that it was all bad: the Pevensies' return to Cair Paravel was almost moving, and Warwick Davis' acerbic Narnian lifted the sprits of the whole affair. I think, now with five Potters, two Narnias, and whole Lord of the Rings under our belts, we're getting a bit saturated with CGI epics. That being said, there are some good segments of the Narnia series waiting to be made as films (why not "Magician's Nephew??"); "Prince Caspian" seems like it's just marking time until the next real installment of the story gets underway. But it's marking time with loud, overdone battle sequences instead of character development or storytelling.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Narnian said...
- Posted on May 27 2008 18:30 It's time for a new director. The first one languished in bible-belt patronizing, and this one deviates so much from the book that it's practically undistinguishable. Adamson just doesn't get it. He should be a CO-director in charge of battle scenes. He just doesn't get the mystical aspect of the stories and he has completely screwed up the image of Aslan. Very sad.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Deborah said...
- Posted on May 26 2008 23:36 If you're looking for an adventure movie this will do. If you're looking for C.S. Lewis - the director did NOT live up to his promise to keep to the book.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Devy said...
- Posted on May 23 2008 14:57 I strongly feel that this second addition to the movie version of The Chronicles falls flat when compared to the magic of C.S. Lewis' original concept. It lacks the continuity of his intended message of faith and retains none of the sense of wonder and exploration that the book holds. The actors whom played the children do as wonderful a job as they did in the first film, but unfortunately they were not given enough 'beef' to build upon in order to flex their "theatrical muscles". The fight scenes were long and drawn out, one of which didn’t exist in the book. The movie was completely out of sequence and dwelled more so on feelings of revenge and envy vs. the issues of faith and believing in yourself you’d find within the covers of each of the books. With that said, my 9 yr old and I DID like the film as a whole and would recommend it to others, but with one asterisk. . . . Do not begin your movie viewing experience with the expectation of seeing a product remotely resembling the book.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Joe Boudreault said...
- Posted on May 22 2008 17:00 This second film of Narnis is in no way up to the standards of the first one. In fact, it is too long, almost unwatchable, and way too much into stupid swords & Scorcery for any CS Lewis fan to swallow. Stay away from this one!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- cat said...
- Posted on May 17 2008 14:30 wonderful for all ages
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Andrew Adamson
Cast: Ben Barnes, Anna Popplewell, Peter Dinklage
Genre(s): Fantasy
Rated: PG
Duration: 144 mins
US Release: May 23 2008
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now