Wide Angle Lenz [beta]

If things keep going the way they are this summer, 2008 is going to be one of the best summer movie seasons I’ve ever seen. I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian last night and really liked it. This was much better than the first one for me. There were some elements that I really didn’t like, but overall it’s a good film.

I haven’t read the books yet – although they have been sitting on my desk for months now, waiting to be read – but especially after seeing the second film, they are books I am excited to read. So going into the films, I am completely unaware of what will be happening. What happened in Prince Caspian was a bit of a shock for me. With the last film I was very used to hearing about all of the religious connotations the film had, all of the groups that were supporting it and trying to get people to go see it, and that it felt like a Disney movie for kids and teens. Not that adults couldn’t enjoy it. Many of my friends, and myself, enjoy the first film. This film is much more violent and has much darker themes in it. For example, attempting murder on Prince Caspian as a new heir to the throne is born. This is not a bad thing, I just wasn’t expecting these brutal tones from the Narnia series.

I loved the story of Prince Caspian, the world transitioning from the new and evil Telmarine world back into Narnia with the help of a Telmarine Prince. The Pevensie children grew up a bit and their acting improved with that, they were much more enjoyable to watch this time around. I liked Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian, I was a little impressed actually. Definitely supposed to be the heartthrob leading guy, but I think he did a good job with the role. Like in the first film, I really enjoyed the visual effects with the magical creatures and characters. I cared about what happened to some of them, like the badger and mouse, and thought they were written well.

I didn’t watch the first film before I went into Prince Caspian, so I forgot completely about the kids living in Narnia until they were much older, finding the closet door again, going through it, and being young in the real world again. That said, as a stand-alone film they do a bad job of explaining that time difference. They allude to how they were “much older then” and hold up adult-sized clothes, but it isn’t explained to a point in which the viewer really know what happened. This was confusing to me. However, I am sure that these films are being made to be considered part of a series, much like the Lord of the Rings films, and when watched together make a lot more sense. That just makes me wish these films were being made back to back – knowing there’s at least one more.

The visual effects were very good. Enough said really. It was another satisfactory job of creating a fantastical environment with believable characters and effects that were detailed and enjoyable to see. However, the film tried to be overly dramatic and intense at times, I felt. Some of the slow motion and editing techniques used were totally ineffective and distracting in contributing to emotion they were trying to convey. I also really enjoyed how the opening credits were handled. Opening credits seem to be taken out of summer blockbusters now, but I think this film did a nice job of making them noticed without distracting from the opening narrative.

The biggest criticism I have is the kiss at the end. Holy crap did that feel forced. It was completely predictable and did not feel natural. As in, I didn’t think for a second that the two characters should be kissing in the first place – and in the book, I’m told, they don’t kiss at all. For some reason the studios must feel that at the end of stories like this there should be two characters that kiss in order to help close the story out. That’s great when it fits the story! I didn’t feel any connection between Caspian and Susan.

I left the theatre really liking this film and excited to see the next one. Keep the great summer coming!

4 out of 5