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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Director: Andrew Adamson

Time Out rating

Average user rating

54 reviews

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 London

Like the second instalments of Peter Jackson’s ‘Rings’ cycle and the Potter films, the latest Narnia adventure goes ‘dark’. But don’t be too worried. Admittedly, the cosy wardrobe is gone, the witch is put on ice and the lion has gone walkabout. Also, while the four Pevensie children – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – have spent a boring year back at school in World War II London, Narnia has undergone a repressive 1,300-year dark age, dispensing the likes of sweet faun Mr Tumnus to history. But as soon as you see the tunnel of Strand tube station open before the four gas-mask-carrying siblings and plonk them straight onto a Swiss Family Robinson-style island, you know all’s well.

For this second ‘Narnia’, director Andrew Adamson has decided to vamp up the battle scenes, including ranks of CGI-copied soldiers that frankly look second rate against Jackson’s set pieces. Likewise, his new scratch army of characters – from grumpy dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), to sword-fighting mouse Reepicheep (Eddie Izzard) and a stable of red-faced centaurs – seem derivative. And, further, there’s arguably too much distracting ‘business’ with the weirdly Iberian-accented new ‘enemy’, the Telmarines. But, all that said, ‘Prince Caspian’ retains a winning, albeit old-fashioned charm of its own. Much of that is down to the performances of the siblings – notably Georgie Henley’s Lucy – who balance the film’s fantastic excursions with a sweetly domestic sense of scale.

Author: Wally Hammond 2008-06-24 12:49:58

Time Out London Issue 1975: June 26 - July 2, 2008

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User reviews of this film

James aged 14 said...

Posted on Jul 25 2008 08:00 I absolutely loved the film and so did my 11 year-old brother. I would recommend it for all ages. A modern epic.

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JM said...

Posted on Jul 22 2008 15:38 it was ok - very well made but they have ruined a simple and charming story by making it too "lord of the rings like" I think they missed an opportunity to represent the real magic and wonder of Narnia - it has become too hard and adult like - rather disappointing really.

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TheBest Film Critic Ever! said...

Posted on Jul 20 2008 09:24 An A-M-A-Z-I-N-G film!! Not as good as the first one, but still great. I think thats although the books should get the most credit, as they were the idea, the films are much more exciting and give a more lasting impression in your mind. Prince Caspian = very cute!! =D

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monika said...

Posted on Jul 19 2008 15:38 How can this film be described as encouraging knife crime? The film advocates good against evil, morals against greed etc. Virutes of honesty, kindness, love are all the things which can be learnt from this film, and the violence is clearly shown to be the result when people dont have these virtues.

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CG said...

Posted on Jul 18 2008 12:15 It was okay but not the best movie.

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Alice said...

Posted on Jul 17 2008 19:45 To the parent who thouhgt that this movie causes knife crime, stuff u. As if this film cause knife crime in teenagers, it has no gore whatsoever and u only see a blade a couple of times, all of which there is no blood. If anything, this movie teaches us to believe in ourselves and to stand up to bullies. Have u even read the book? If u had then u wud know that its much more graphic than this movie ever will be.

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vern said...

Posted on Jul 17 2008 10:55 went to see it with the kids. they thought it was'nt as good as the first

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Issy said...

Posted on Jul 15 2008 09:48 fun

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steph said...

Posted on Jul 14 2008 17:19 OMG i loved this film and the parent that thought it was sick, to you i say open your eyes and look around we are not in the 18th century and as much as you want to blaim knife crime on films you can't and definatly not on this one, there was no unnessisery gor and it was great. GO AND SEE NANIA pRINCE CASPIAN!

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P-Star said...

Posted on Jul 13 2008 18:26 Right. Whoever thinks that this excellent film teaches young kids and teenagers to kill or use knives are embarassingly mistaken. Yes the film has violence, but that is why is has a PARENTAL GUIDANCE certificate. The film is a lot of fun and exciting, just not recommended for overly strict/ absolutely stupid parents.

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Beth said...

Posted on Jul 12 2008 15:43 I really enjoyed this film, as it was enthralling and enthusiastic. Ben Barnes, Prince Caspian, was charming and his accent was really cute! World War II was brought in at the beginning, and, as in the last one, it was the beginning that made me cry - the thought of the war always does that to me though. The battle scenes were brilliant, with hardly any gore; like someone else said it was implied rather than shown. I would recommend this film to all.

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ypul said...

Posted on Jul 12 2008 09:57 This Movie is absolutely fantastic. I love fantasy movies like Lord of the rings, Beowulf. This is in my fav list now. Watch it in cinema, its real experience for such a movie on big screen. Recommended? of course yes.

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cheese and onion said...

Posted on Jul 11 2008 16:54 OMG, THAT FILM WAS DA BEST EVA! IM GONNA C IT AGEN WIV ME MATES

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genealogyfan said...

Posted on Jul 10 2008 01:49 As a parent, I totally disagree with the [badly spelt] opinion of "Parent". This is not some grubby story about teenagers mugging people for their mobile phone. It is a classic book by an acclaimed Christian author which is an epic tale about the fight between Good and Evil. Since it is about a battle, there is obviously going to be some fighting and I don't find that there is any unnecessary gory violence, most of it being implied rather than shown. While [as someone who has actually read the books] I enjoyed the film, one small thing I would agree with the critic about and which did irritate me was the Telmarines' accent - a small source of irritation in an otherwise hugely enjoyable film.

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Livvi said...

Posted on Jul 09 2008 19:05 to be honest i didnt really enjoy it , dragged on abit to much and bits were unnesersary, wouldnt recomend it at all.

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