Here we go kids. A movie review of Prince Caspian.
WARNING.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS.
Things That I Didn't Like:
Caspian/Susan OTP OTWHAT?!
This is, without a doubt, the biggest thing I have an issue with in this movie. What the hell was that Caspian/Susan lovefest? Flirting glances and poor pick-up lines... what the crap? These movies don't need love interests, movie folks. They are children. I know Susan's all growing up and whatnot, but she doesn't get boy crazy until after she leaves Narnia for good. And there was no way that relationship could have gone anywhere, so what was the point?
Tension and glances, I would have been fine with, but actual kissing was too much. And stupid. It just doesn't make any sense. As far as I could see, there wasn't even any tension between them in the book at all. CS Lewis gave no indication that there was anything more than friendship there and it's frustrating that the movie makers decided to write in some fangirl bullshit.
That... doesn't look right.
In the first movie, the creature animation and make-up was phenomenal; no one can deny that. But I felt that, in this movie, the animation and make up was subpar. Some of the movement between torsos and lower bodies for the centaurs and fauns didn't quite match up and the minotaurs seemed so much smaller and lighter than their first movie counterparts.
I'm especially disappointed with the minotaurs. In the first movie, everything from the waist up was animatronic suit pieces and they looked amazing. They had the weight and the movement that a large animal would actually have, but this movie went with a lot more CGI work on the minotaurs and they don't look heavy or built like bulls. They just look furry. And some of the animation of the running seems to have them almost not touch the ground, when they should be shaking the ground somewhat with their large mass.
The fauns were better than the minotaurs, for the most part, but a few of them didn't have clearly defined goat legs (just furry legs), and a couple of the jumping ones weren't using the right leg muscles and bends in order to get the jumps that they did. :/
Normally, these things wouldn't bother me as much as they do for this movie, but it's so disappointing after the amazing job they did with the minotaurs and fauns in the last movie.
The Lion's Smile
This kind of ties into the last thing with my issues with animation, but I didn't like how much more human they made Aslan's mouth movement. Particularly, his smile. It was just a little bit too exaggerated for my taste; Aslan's not meant to be made more human or soft. He's not a tame lion, after all.
Step forward, Edmund
The director/writers for the movie obviously wanted to play up Peter's role because he's not coming back to Narnia, but they did so at the expense of Edmund. With two lead males in Peter and Caspian, poor Edmund got pushed back into the midground when he really should have been more of a prominent player. Yes, he got more lines and good moments in this one because he wasn't off with the White Witch, but I don't think anyone could say that Edmund was Peter's equal when he was supposed to be. Edmund and Peter were equals as Kings, but Edmund was displaying a more subservient role than he should have.
I know I'm biased because I do love Edmund. He's probably the most developed character (aside from, possibly, Eustace) in the Chronicles, and he's most definitely the most grown out of the four children and I really hate to see characters like that get the short end of the stick.
However, this does make me look forward to Voyage of the Dawn Treader more because there won't be multiple strong male leads to get in the way. It'll be interesting to see what they do with him then.
Things That I Am Not Sure About:
There's only one thing here and it's Georgie Henley. I loved her as Lucy in LWW, but I'm not sure about her in this one. She's growing up into a lovely young woman, yes, but it doesn't appear that she's improved in her acting any. I don't know if that's because of the direction given to her or her actual talent, but there was something off or exaggerated about many of her important solo moments. She works wonderfully with the other kids, but I'm not sure she can hold her own for Lucy's solo moments.
Things That I Did Like:
Still Alive?
You all might be surprised to hear this, but I actually did like the scene with the White Witch almost returning. This issue was touched upon in the book, Nikabrik and his two dark goons there did want Caspian to bring her back, but they did not go nearly as far as they did in the movie. But I think the scene in the movie showed some things about the Witch that people wouldn't necessarily get from the first movie that readers would have gotten from a couple of the books.
The first thing that I very much appreciated is that it was made clear that Jadis is a temptress. It's always been understood that she's evil, but the reason why she can get people under her power is that she is very beautiful and very persuasive and knows how to use that. Watching the movie, you know that Caspian and Peter really didn't want to bring her back, but she knows how to use her beauty and charm to sway even her most bitter enemies.
Also, it provided a physical link to the idea that she is not of Narnia. Everyone assumes that she dies at the end of LWW, but many readers and viewers don't know that she's from a much older, much more barren world with and, if she needed to, she could escape from Narnia. She doesn't want to, obviously, but she could.
Also, I liked that Edmund finally got to pwn her hardcore. He kicked some major ass in that scene.
Costumes
They did a fantastic job with the costumes in this one. I really liked the design of the Telemarine armor and how their leather armor contrasted to the Narnian plate armor. I reeeaallly liked the design of Susan's archer armor. And because I'm a faggot, I kept looking at all the different stitching and designs of people's shirts. A lot of times in movies like these, they kind of pick one base design and everything is derived from that one shirt, but... they got creative on this one. XD
Reepicheep
Oh thank GOD he wasn't another Jar Jar Binks. His character is written very energetically and vocal and he had the potential to be extremely annoying and terrible. But they did a good job with the line choice and Eddie Izzard was great with the tone and inflection. Reepicheep was really portrayed well.
Soundtrack
Harry Gregson-Williams has done it again with another brilliant score and excellent song choices. He's wonderful. That's all I've got to say about that.
SO YES.
Prince Caspian is a must for any Narnia and fantasy adventure fan. I really really enjoyed it.
And have seen it twice already. XD
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