Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The first movie in the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a captivating film. The story, the action, the scenery, the magic, all were interwoven with great skill and finesse to make it a fine use of two hours. With the 2nd installment, Prince Caspian,....um, not so much. But first as always, the trailer:


The four Pevensie kids are back in Narnia, a mere one year after their last adventure, but 1300 years in Narnia time. The magical animals and creatures of Narnia have been exterminated by the Telmarines, a race descended from rather local parts to us. Those who survived the genocide have gone into hiding, leaving their history as just a "fairy tale" to the Telmarines who run the show now. The prince is expendable now that his uncle has borne a son (well, actually his uncle's wife has). So he races to the enchanted forest away from those who'd rather see him dead. A blow of the ol' "Horn of Susan Pevensie" when in a pickle whisks the kids from jolly old England back to Narnia. The fight is on for rightful claim to thrones and one's existence.

When all is said and done, you leave the theater just not CARING for Caspian quite frankly. The action is slow-going, the story muddles along, intricate backstory portions of the book are glossed over if not outright passed over; you just don't care. And it doesn't help that Caspian's dialect is a bastardization of a Saturday Night Live Antonio Banderas spoof plus Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride. You can't take him seriously...and you just don't care. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."


House of Gordon movie score? A low, low "Wait for HBO" grade. Disappointing. We shan't proceed with acquiring the entire movie series on DVD now. The Lion, the Witch. and the Wardrobe in Gordonian possession will be enough. And OK OK we get it, the lion is Jesus Christ. Enough already!

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