 
Prince Caspian is the rousing and worthy successor to the first Narnia film, and it’s vastly underrated. Much like the first film, the reviews are all over the place for the epic fantasy adventure. Prince Caspian is beautifully filmed, exciting, and action-packed. I actually liked it more than the slightly overrated Iron Man, though oddly enough, both films share the same weakness. The hero (or heroes) are far more compelling than the villains. Tilda Swinton (who has a memorable cameo here) is sorely missed in this second film, but overall, it does little damage to this very entertaining fantasy.
 The kings and queens of Narnia are sucked back into Narnia, one year later for them, but more than 1,300 years later for Narnia where they face evil and help the rightful king take his crown. Peter, Lucy, Susan and Edmund help the metrosexual Prince Caspian (fine, but fairly bland tween heartthrob Ben Barnes) defeat an evil king named Miraz (who mostly sneers and slaps around underlings and little people) and his people called the Telmarines who rule the land of Narnia with an iron fist. Caspian escapes an assassination attempt and forms an alliance with the the kids and their Narnia creatures against King Miraz and the Telmarines. The acting is decent all around (Peter and Caspian have a homoerotic spat about who is the real leader) and Peter Dinklage is very good as a dwarf who helps along the way. Edmund (though looking and aging awkwardly) has grown into a more confident actor and Lucy is bright and adorable. Aslan is also terrific (voiced by Liam Neeson) and the effects are all top notch. Eddie Izzard has fun voicing a brave mouse and there are centaurs and battles galore to keep the 2hr and 17 minute film whizzing by. The film is also rather violent (bloodless, mostly)  and suitable for kids over say 8 or 9 years of age. The music and scale of the film are both epic and the film is a must-see for fans of the fantasy genre. If you are not a fantasy fan, you may not get it.
 Prince Caspian is a winner all around. It has good fights, storytelling, and nice acting. The only flaw is the less than memorable villain and perhaps that the film runs a tad too long. Prince Caspian is actually as underrated as Iron Man is overrated and a nice surprise. I look forward to my next journey into Narnia, even though not all the kids will be going back to Narnia with me.
Film Grade: B+
Loading ...