Collegiate Times

Narnia Teaser

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second book of the series penned by C.S. Lewis, delivers exactly what it promises: a fantastic journey into the land of Narnia, full of beautiful scenery, exotic creatures and battles a-plenty.

The movie, recognizing that its strength lies in its imagination, jumps right into Narnia. The four children, Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy, spend no more than five minutes of screentime in our mundane world. Once they make the jump, summoned by the blowing of a magical horn by Prince Caspian, the movie plays much the same as the first Narnia film ("The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe") with sword-fights, battles, horse chases and everything else you would expect. But, instead of the clear-cut conflict between the forces of the evil ice-witch and the Christ-like Aslan the Lion, the battle is between the Narnians and the human Telmarines. Even the previously evil Minotaurs and dwarves have joined the Narnians in their fight against extinction.

The creatures are a beauty to behold, and I must praise the movie's art direction. The shots of the beach, the majestic mountains, green fields and romantic forests lit by beams of light were a welcome vacation from my everyday surroundings. The creatures - centaurs who gallop into battle wielding huge swords, the satyrs who fight like leaping ninjas, and even the gruff dwarves - are eerily real, with faces that readily display emotion and realistic movements. If I didn't know better, I might have said they were real. Even the Telmarines, with fearsome-looking armor and a cliff-straddling castle, were a treat to watch.

Other parts of the movie fall short. The movie and the book are ultimately geared for a younger audience, and it sometimes shows. A few scenes were a little cheesy, as if the movie was trying to force emotion, and other parts didn't make sense or didn't turn out as I think the creators intended. For example, I left the theater thinking that Aslan, the great and good Lion, was a big jerk.

The plot was the ideal boyfriend to take home to the parents, perfectly normal and rather predictable. The characters left the movie exactly as they came in, and the deepest thought I had about the movie was wondering why the seven- or eight-year-olds behind me laughed with delight every time someone died.

With that said, some aspects of the movie were definitely more complex. Faith is a major theme, demonstrated most obviously by the fact that Aslan is conspicuously absent, though Lucy, the youngest, often sees him when others cannot.

Also, in a strangely disconnected scene, temptation rears its head. Finally, the increasingly popular issue of man's disregard for or violence toward nature was at the core of the struggle between the animal Narnians and the crossbow-wielding, trebuchet-building Telmarines.

The movie's actual violence is nothing to smirk at either. Though blood is never shown in great quantity (even when Peter takes a few shield bashes to the face), a great many soldiers and Narnians are hacked up or shot with arrows.

Especially violent, and disturbingly cute, is a mouse-knight who nimbly leaps around slashing hamstrings and throats (while spilling no blood) with his tiny sword. As Trumpkin the dwarf says, "You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember."

The actors do a decent job, with Prince Caspian played by Ben Barnes, whose most notable role was Dunstan Thorn of the recent book-turned-movie "Stardust." Of particular delight are the two dwarves: Peter Dinklage, from the indie film "The Station Agent," who plays Trumpkin, friend and guide to the four children. And Warwick Davis, who played Willow in that ultra-classic fantasy film of the same name, plays Nikabrik, the darker half to Trumpkin.

In the end, the movie sticks to its guns, playing it simple and by the book to create a pleasurable and imaginative journey for all ages. Enjoy it for its imagination and keep an eye out for the next Narnian adventure, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," sometime in 2010.