The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Opening in theatres this Friday is the next installment of the beloved C.S. Lewis books with “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”.

It has been a year since the Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) Pevensie have gone back to their normal lives in England. That is not to last as the Kings and Queens of Narnia are summoned back as 1,300 years has passed in the kingdom.

In that time Narnia has ceased to exist as the land has been conquered by the Telmarines and now under the control of the evil King Miraz (Sergio Castellito). The children are introduced to Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) who is heir to the throne of Narnia. His uncle, Miraz, at every turn has plotted to kill Caspian and set his own son as ruler.

Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) has not been seen in a thousand years and all of the creatures of Narnia have turned into folklore and legend. Caspian blows Susan’s horn and the children are summoned back to help set the kingdom right.

To help in their quest are Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), a brave dwarf; Reepicheep (voice of Eddie Izzard) the valiant mouse; the badger Trufflehunter (voice of Ken Stott); the ever watchful Black Dwarf, Nikabrik (Warwick Davis) along with other Narnians to find Aslan and reclaim the glory of Narnia.

FINAL WORD:  There is amazing action and visuals in this installment. It also seems a darker storyline than the previous film. There are also many lessons in sacrifice and redemption.

The ‘children’ have grown and are a little older than the characters in the books but that does not take away at all from the story itself film wise. The action is a thrill ride and exciting to cheer for the good guys.

This is the second of seven C.S. Lewis books in the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series. Published between 1950 and 1956, the books have sold over one hundred million copies in 35 languages worldwide. 

Douglas Gresham, who handles Lewis’ estate and is a co-producer, has worked for over 20 years to bring the story of Narnia to the screen. Mark Johnson has taken on the task of once again directing the sequel believing it to be a totally different storyline than the first film.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” earned $756 million dollars at the box office world wide on its release making it one of the biggest releases by Disney. I suspect the same will happen with this installment of the film.

The next installment “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is currently in pre-production. Numbers at the box office will determine if all the stories will make their way to the screen.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” four tubs of popcorn out of five. It is an amazing film and just pure joy to watch with a story line that captures the imagination from start to finish.