The first Chronicles of Narnia movie wasn’t anything special; let’s face the facts it’s basically a Lord of Rings knockoff package for kids. I personally thought it was a little weak, I just couldn’t get into the idea of a bunch of kids leading an army of mythical creatures into battle while a thick layer of Christian overtones are laid on in the background. But as I said it wasn’t meant for me but for the kids and it must have hit its mark because the studio has pumped out its sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
For a brief synapses one could say it’s Narnians verses the Spaniards and it’s up to a bunch of kids to save the day while they all search for their faith in a dark foreboding world. But that would be an awfully cynical approach to a summery. So I’ll go a bit deeper. The same children from the first movie are summoned back to Narnia hundreds of years after their kingdom has been levelled and the mythical creatures driven into hiding. This invading force, the Telmarines, have established an empire in Narnia whos prince is of coures Prince Caspian. His uncle makes an attempt at his life to seize the thrown and this sets the plot into motion. The plot is alittle cliche at points but it flows decent enough and once the battles start no one really cares anyway. After that it’s just surviving the onslaught of Christianity.
The creatures are back and looking as great as always but are sadly accompanied my even thicker overtones with a subtle air of pretentiousness. Like the movie’s being so brilliant with its references that no one could ever figure it out. The acting was also weak; it’s low point being Prince Caspian’s wonderfully fake accent. But as annoying as the references got and as much as the acting made me laugh at times, I kind of enjoyed myself.
They’ve evened out the gap between audiences by making it feel a bit more adult by creating a darker atmosphere and grittier more intense battles. The plot was a little loose and the dialogue rough at times (the aforementioned Christian allusions) but the battles saved it every time. The war scenes are fast paced show lots of destruction and utilize each creature to their fullest, my personal favourite being the Minotaurs and their berserker style of fighting. And though things about the plot really made me mad there were no really glaring flaws.
So I’m going to give it a B. It’s good, just not great, dragged down by its influences and child actors. It borrows a bit from the Lord of The Rings but it’s still fun. Worth a trip to the theatre especially for families, but it’s not for cynics, plot enthusiasts or atheists. I felt like the little references were hitting me square in the face every time and anyone else who doesn’t like that sort of thing will have problems with this film. It’s really a question of faith (see my title) and whether you have it or not. Do you have faith or does the concept of blind faith bother you. Give it a shot but don’t blame me if you’re born again. Don’t worry, I wasn’t.
For a brief synapses one could say it’s Narnians verses the Spaniards and it’s up to a bunch of kids to save the day while they all search for their faith in a dark foreboding world. But that would be an awfully cynical approach to a summery. So I’ll go a bit deeper. The same children from the first movie are summoned back to Narnia hundreds of years after their kingdom has been levelled and the mythical creatures driven into hiding. This invading force, the Telmarines, have established an empire in Narnia whos prince is of coures Prince Caspian. His uncle makes an attempt at his life to seize the thrown and this sets the plot into motion. The plot is alittle cliche at points but it flows decent enough and once the battles start no one really cares anyway. After that it’s just surviving the onslaught of Christianity.
The creatures are back and looking as great as always but are sadly accompanied my even thicker overtones with a subtle air of pretentiousness. Like the movie’s being so brilliant with its references that no one could ever figure it out. The acting was also weak; it’s low point being Prince Caspian’s wonderfully fake accent. But as annoying as the references got and as much as the acting made me laugh at times, I kind of enjoyed myself.
They’ve evened out the gap between audiences by making it feel a bit more adult by creating a darker atmosphere and grittier more intense battles. The plot was a little loose and the dialogue rough at times (the aforementioned Christian allusions) but the battles saved it every time. The war scenes are fast paced show lots of destruction and utilize each creature to their fullest, my personal favourite being the Minotaurs and their berserker style of fighting. And though things about the plot really made me mad there were no really glaring flaws.
So I’m going to give it a B. It’s good, just not great, dragged down by its influences and child actors. It borrows a bit from the Lord of The Rings but it’s still fun. Worth a trip to the theatre especially for families, but it’s not for cynics, plot enthusiasts or atheists. I felt like the little references were hitting me square in the face every time and anyone else who doesn’t like that sort of thing will have problems with this film. It’s really a question of faith (see my title) and whether you have it or not. Do you have faith or does the concept of blind faith bother you. Give it a shot but don’t blame me if you’re born again. Don’t worry, I wasn’t.
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