Series Review 2.2: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Series Review 2.2

'Series Review' is Movie Freak 77's new type of Post where a Review of a series's films will be done. Each couple of months films of a certain series will reviewed . 

The second series to be reviewed will be 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' series. Movie Freak 77 already reviewed 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and will soon review 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. Here is the Second Review of this Series, enjoy!

Review: The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian
  Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" Poster.

      The second installment successfully steps it up in many aspects that were flawed in the first one and will for sure satisfy the franchise's fans.

"Ben Barnes" and "Wawrick Davis".

"William Moseley".

      One year since the kids came back from 'Narnia', 'Peter'(William Moseley), 'Susan'(Anna Popplewell), 'Edmund'(Skandar Keynes) and 'Lucy'(Georgie Henley) are trying to adapt to the real life and forget about 'Narnia'. However, whilst waiting at a London Underground station, the 'Pevensies''s are magically transferred back to 'Narnia'. At first they enjoy their return, but suddenly realize that the world they left has dramatically changed. 1,300 years have passed in 'Narnia' since the kids left and it has been invaded by 'Telmarines'. The rightful heir to the throne, 'Prince Caspian'(Ben Barnes), is now in danger after his uncle's son is born. His uncle 'Miraz'(Sergio Castellitto) wants the throne for himself and wants to destroy all 'Narnians', who are now hiding in the woods and waiting to be saved. Things never happen the same way twice. Now each of the kings and queens must deal with their personal issues while managing to find a way to save 'Narnia' from 'Miraz' and his 'Telmarine' army, especially since 'Aslan'(Liam Neeson) is nowhere to be found. Other characters include red dwarf 'Trumpkin'(Peter Dinklage), 'Miraz''s general 'Lord Glozelle'(Pierfrancesco Favino), 'Lord Sopespian'(Damian Alcazar), black dwarf 'Nikabrik'(Warwick Davis), mouse 'Reepicheep'(Eddie Izzard), centaur 'Glenstorm'(Cornell John), 'Caspian''s mentor 'Doctor Cornelius'(Vincent Grass),  'Miraz''s wife 'Queen Prunaprismia'(Alicia Borrachero), badger 'Trufflehunter'(Ken Scott), and a cameo appearance of the White Witch 'Jadis'(Tilda Swinton).

"Georgie Henley" and
"Liam Neeson".

"Anna Popplewell".

      The screenplay of this movie was already written long before the release of 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and after its immense success production needed to be starting quickly. The story occurs right after the story of the first movie, so the need for fast shooting was needed while the four lead actors and actresses were still young. The approach of this movie was at a bigger scale than the first one and infused a darker tone. This portrayed very positively by improving on many aspects that the first movie might have failed a bit in such as character development, visual effects and infusing many story elements in a cohesive manner. However it failed to bring and maintain the same 'wow' effect that the first one brought, hindering the experience. When compared to the first installment the box office returns were approximately half what 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' was able to make. That was primarily because of its release date. Basically 'Prince Caspian' was released between two of the biggest movie releases of 2008, which were 'Iron Man' and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull',who targeted many the same demographic groups. 

"Skandar Keynes".

"Sergio Castellitto".

      "Andrew Adamson", who directed 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', was able to improve in a very tangible manner. From the start, he decided to approach the movie in a grittier and darker manner, which was a very clever approach to take seeing the turn the story took and the villains of the movie. His directing style of "Andrew" was further more enhanced with the added sophistication of the visual effects that accentuated the perfect use of the magnificent scenery, that honestly was breathtaking. This style added to all the scenes of the movie. Once again "Adam", along with "Christopher Markus" and "Stephen McFeely" returned to pen the screenplay, which was much more infused with character development as well as new elements to the same named book. "Harry Gregson-Wiliiams" also returned to helm the score. "Harry" re-used and re-orchestrated many of the scores that magnified and glorified the first movie, while adding new scores and adding his own personal musical flare to the score of this installment. "Regina Skeptor"'s song 'The Call' was a very good movie theme song.

"Tilda Swinton".

"Anna Popplewell", "William
Moseley" and "Ben Barnes".

      As the first movie, the time frame of the movie was spot on in my opinion. Many may argue that many scenes that were included may be unnecessary, especially between 'Caspian' and his mentor. But actually it allowed the cementing of the entirety of the Narnian world and the origins of the 'Telmarines', a subject that wasn't tackled at the beginning. Many small and few elements were added. But the truly original element that was added was the night fighting scene when 'Caspian', 'Peter', 'Susan', 'Edmund' and the 'Narnians' invaded the 'Telmarins''s castle to try and overthrow 'Miraz'. Other than adding it for a fighting sequence, it allowed to further explore 'Caspian''s personality and well as his conflict with 'Peter'. Other highlight sequences were the 'Pevensies' entering 'Narnia' and finding their stuff, 'Lucy' and 'Aslan''s dream sequence, 'Caspian' and 'Peter' being compelled by 'Jadis' and her minions and of course the penultimate fighting sequence towards the end. The finale was truly heartbreaking, especially for fans of the film series with the infusion of the beautiful theme song.

"Skandar Keynes", "Georgie Henley"
, "Anna Popplewell" and
"Peter Dinklage".

"Skandar Keynes", "William
Moseley", "Anna Popplewell"
and "Georgie Henley".

      Overall the cast performed very decent jobs. "Georgie Henley" once again knocked it out of the park with a brilliant and innocent performance that captivated everyone who watched her. "William Moseley" improved his portrayal from the first movie, "Anna Popplewell" succeeded in showing her character's personality, while "Skandar Keynes" showed the growth that his character had. The inclusion of "Ben Barnes" as 'Caspian' in the bigger picture was a successful one, though there were few negative points to his character mainly the fluctuations in his accent, which hampered a bit his performance. The tense chemistry with "William"'s character was a highlight, while his character romantic connection with "Anna"'s character took a back seat. Though many expected more screen time from 'Aslan', "Liam Neeson" delivers as usual voicing the icon of this series. "Sergio Castellitto" worked as the villain, but didn't leave a strong villainous mark as "Tilda Swinton" did with 'Jadis', who made a brief yet powerful appearance in the movie. As always "Peter Dinklage" shined in his role, even if his character faded a bit in the second half. "Pierfrancesco Favino" and "Damian Alcazar" gave decent portrayals as well. "Eddie Izzard" and "Cornell John" were those who shined the most as 'Reepicheep' and centaur 'Glenstorm' between the 'Narnia' characters. The remaining supporting cast supported the main cast in a successful manner.

      'Prince Caspian' may have underperformed in the box office but certainly improved on the first movie, yet overall failed to show the same magical world that many expected after 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

Official "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" Poster.

-'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' Info:
-Release Date: May 16, 2008.
-Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, Peter Dinklage, Sergio Castellitto, Pierfrancesco Favino, Damian Alcazar, Warwick Davis, Eddie Izzard, Cornell John, Vincent Grass, Alicia Borrachero, Ken Scott and Tilda Swinton.
-Based on: 'Prince Caspian' by C.S. Lewis.
-Studio(s): Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Walden Media.
-Directed by: Andrew Adamson.
-Screenplay by: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
-Music by: Harry Gregson-Wiliiams.
-Running Time: 150 minutes.
-Budget: $ 225,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 141,621,490.
                   -Foreign: $ 278,044,078.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 6.6/10.
               -Rotten Tomatoes: 67%.
               -Metacritic: 62%.

               -PERSONAL RATING: 8.4/10.

-'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian' Trailer: