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| Andrew Adamson | |
| Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Steve McFeeley |
| Ben Barnes, Alicia Borrachero, Peter Dinklage, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Liam Neeson, Vincent Grass, Warwick Davis, Ken Stott, Shane Rangi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Sergio Castellitto, Cornell John |
| Friday, May 16, 2008 |
| 140 minutes |
| Walt Disney Pictures |
| Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure |
 Some material may not be suitable for children. |
Synopsis
 The enchanted characters of C.S. Lewis's timeless fantasy come to life again in this second installment of the seven book series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically and mysteriously transported back from England to Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.
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Chronicles of Narnia Finds a Home
The third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia franchise, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", has finally found some financial backing.
20th Century Fox has stepped up and will co-finance the project, barring any snags with approval of script and shooting budget. Fox, along with Walden Media, controls the rights to the C.S. Lewis books.
The film is expected to cost about $225 million. While...
Bob Iger pulls a Homer Simpson on Prince Caspian's release date.
D'oh!
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Walt Disney Co CEO
Robert Iger said Wednesday that "The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian" is underperforming at the box office because of
competition from "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones."...
Narnia Opens Quieter Than Expected
Whilst kid-friendly pics like this often do better on weekends, estimates are that the heavily promoted fantasy feature will take in $53-60 million for the weekend - $20-25 million less than early estimates....
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media are Proud to Announce the ...
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Will Screen to an Audience of 10,000 at the O2 Arena, London's Premier Entertainment Venue, on June 19th in Support of Great Ormond Street HospitalAn impressive line-up of stars from the predominat......
Photo Exclusive:Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Wolfman Figure
MTV Movies Blog has an exclusive on the upcoming toy/figure line for Narnia 2, with the toys hitting the shelves on April 1. Or not....
Disney's Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Delayed
The production of the third film in the Narnia Series, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", will be postponed, Disney and Walden Media has announced. Apparently, there is a scheduling conflict among the actors involved.
The movie will be released on May 7, 2010, one year later than it's original release date of May 1, 2009. Production will occur on the third film from ...
Disney's Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Director Announced
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media have announced that Michael Apted will be directing the third installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two films, will be returning on board as producer. Also on board for the third installment are Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes. The pictu...
Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Starts Filming
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" the second live-action/CGI motion picture adaptation of C.S. Lewis' beloved series of literary classics, began principal photography on location in Auckland, New Zealand, on February 12, 2007. The production, once again a joint venture between the Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, continues the franchise which commenced with the spectacular, Oscar-wi...
For more Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian news please visit FlickDirect's movie news section. |
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The collected edition of the Chronicles of Narnia that I bought for my daughter presented the books in chronological order to the story. This is a travesty beyond words since it makes you begin with The Magician's Nephew which is, in the Nania time-line, the first story. It sure wasn't the first written and reading it first does all kinds of damage to the narrative that the reader ought to experience.
The good news with the films is that so far (two for two) they're rolling them out in the right order. The other piece of good news is that they're adding extra violence. The novel Prince Caspian chronicles the return of the Pevensie children to the wonderful land of Narnia where animals talk and trees dance--or at least they used to when the children first visited in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Called back again, 1300 years later in Narnia time (only one year later for our heroes) the land is again besieged. A race of men called the Telmarines have invaded Narnia and subjugated the land. The talking animals are in hiding and the would-be king, Miraz (a nasty piece of business played by Sergio Castellitto) plans to consolidate his power by executing the young, promising Prince Caspian (played by Ben Barnes who exudes handsome charisma). Caspian escapes his uncle's clutches and runs into the enchanted wood where some miraculous beasts still flourish. In danger of being captured, he blows a magical horn, summoning the children (who were former kings and queens of Narina in the first movie) to once again save the kingdom.
In terms of following the book, although it has been a long time since I read that one, it recalls as reasonably on target. Some of it is directly out of the story, some of it is simply expanded. Some of it is new (more on this later). However, as far as I'm concerned, the treatment is reasonably thoughtful--the work done to turn it from print into film exhibits an understanding of both mediums. It also contains the text's sense of faith which, while perhaps seeming ever-so-slightly preachy is true to the intent behind the original works (if you don't believe me, read The Screwtape Letters to see what Lewis was on about).
So what have they added ... and what have they done with what they got to start with? Well, for one thing, they've added color to the battle scenes ... and one entire battle scene (the castle assault). This, in the movie, comes off--to my eye--very well. It's kinetic. We get to see the characters do their things, and it gives us some action pieces to illustrate character. I found myself mildly tense, surprised at carnage (bloodless due to the PG rating but still carnage), and enjoying the way each creature in the Narnian forces uses its unique abilities to fight.
On the other hand, they've added Peter being a bit of a git (British for something of a jerk), however, which, while perhaps realistic for someone who went from High King to school boy in less than a year, was I think some needless melodrama. They've added some romantic heat between Susan and Caspian (which is, I think, very ironic if I recall how she ends up by the end of the series) but they've also given her more to do in the fight-scenes (apparently actress Anna Popplewell agitated for more action, rightfully so, and got it).
On the whole, I think this is a wash. The did some things I wouldn't have and some I approve of.
Speaking of "wash," the movie's special-effects water scene is apparently one of the hardest Fx shots the CGI team ever had to do and it shows. Generally throughout the movie, they've done an excellent job with effects (and filming on location--the movie is shot all over the world). This, and battle scenes using literally 100's of extras, gives the movie a crackling sense of pace that belies its 144 minute length. Like Fight Club, the battles go on as long as they need to and I found something to like in just about every conflict (Peter's look when Edmund tries to hand him his helm during a sword fight scene, for example, is dead on).
People have had issues with Eddie Izzard's voicing of swords-mouse and tiny knight of Narnia Reepicheep saying it is too close to Shrek 3's Puss-n-Boots. I don't think so. For one thing, the battle-mouse in something close to a modern context came first by a long shot (the fairy-tale Puss-N-Boots is no push-over but doesn't take down ogres with a blade). For another thing, Reepicheep, although small, slits people's throats and stabs them fatally in the eyes. No, you don't see it happen graphically: this is a kid's movie. Yes: it unequivocally happens. Shrek's Boots doesn't have a body count ... or at least no confirmed kills I'm aware of.
Seeing that the casting remains strong, the action is good, and the story, I think, is reasonably respectful of its material (and Prince Caspian is not the strongest of the Narnia books to begin with, anyway) I think this accomplishes its mission. I'm assuming we'll see Voyage of the Dawn Treader in a few years.--Marco Chacon
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The second installment of the Narnia chronicles has now come to Disney DVD and Blu-ray. Prince Caspian gives us a look at the magical world 1300 years after the events of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe . The kids return to find the place taken over by human invaders who have ruthlessly purged the magical creatures -- and now believe them to be legend. The good prince of the, otherwise, fairly evil people is Caspian (Ben Barnes), and he teams up with the four children to hopefully save the native magical inhabitants.
Caspian is darker and more adult than the first movie. There is a much higher body count; and while it isn't grim or bloody (I think the blood is more or less limited to a bloody lip of a Telmarine), a lot of people get killed in various sanitized ways -- such as stabbed in the eye or having their throats cut by the uber-lethal Reepicheep, voiced wonderfully by Eddie Izzard. The movie features a not-in-the-book castle assault as the first large-battle-set piece; and it is not only well envisioned, but functionally dramatic. We see the results of the character's egos at work.
The collector's set features a disk with how it was made, and includes a fascinating look at how they used a software system to do almost the whole movie in animation before actual filming began, as well as how they did the locations. The first disk has a commentary track with the director and each of the four children and Barnes. There is a digital media disk that lets you put the movie on your computer or portable device.
How are the extras?
If you like the series or care about how fantasy movies get made in general, this is very good stuff – that is, if you haven't seen it all before with the Lord of the Rings extended edition. The crew flew all over the world to film "on location" and built incredibly elaborate sets. The entire castle scene and the Telmarine council chamber were all really built to full scale. The river crossing scenes really did have hundreds of extras and practical (real wooden towers).
To be frank: a lot of stuff I assumed was a startling CGI effect was, in fact, real (the ruins of Cair Paravel were really built on a hard-to-get-to location. The commentary track is decent; you get to hear the kids talk about what making various scenes was like and hear William Moseley (high king peter) say "I meant to do that" in scenes where he probably didn't. You get to hear the girls being a little -- just a little --giggly about the ultra-handsome Barnes.
With Voyage of the Dawn Treader is going into casting-call territory, I think even if we do not see the full set of movies, there should be enough of them to make a collectible set.The Narnia films are good enough to warrant repeat viewing.
--Marco Chacon
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