Z/Web

Author: C.S. Lewis

First, I preamble my comments with an explanation that I tend to see movies adapted from classic novels in two ways: as an adaptation and as a stand-alone film. As such, this film is okay as a stand-alone, similar to the first one, but poor as an adaptation. The main flaw is that it has a totally different feel than the book. The book is a light-hearted fun fantasy, while this is a grimmer, darker, more serious “action-adventure” film. In the book, the battles are barely described and almost a minor part of the story; here they have been expanded to 50-60 percent of the film. That’s not necessarily bad — the action’s decent and somewhat fun and exciting, though perhaps a touch violent for younger children — but it’s not the C.S. Lewis book we know and love.

I rather expected this. I reread the book the evening before and had decided it did not suit a big-budget film very well: not much really happens. In the book there are basically three events: the children are transported to Narnia, a backstory of what’s been happening in Narnia the past few hundred years is explained, and then there’s a climatic battle the children are involved with to help save Narnia. The problem with that structure is that in a movie, the main characters of the children would only be in a few scenes. The book’s also quite brief. So the producers fleshed things out by mixing things around and putting the events in a different order. Sometimes this makes sense, but other times not: for instance, Susan’s Horn (which magically pulls the children into Narnia) is blown not during the battle as in the book, but when Prince Caspian is running away from his uncle’s soldier’s. The dwarf is kidnapped at that time, not sent on a mission to find the children, and so later, when he does find the children, his reference to Susan’s Horn makes no sense at all since he wasn’t there when it was blown, didn’t even know Prince Caspian had it, didn’t even know Prince Caspian, for that matter! So the writers’ changed things around and messed up some plot continuity.

I was most disappointed by the film’s beginning, which dives right in with Prince Caspian’s escape from his uncle. While I understand the desire to begin with action, this approach means all the exposition and setup of the situation is explained in a rush, and we don’t get all the info we need to properly understand the story. I would have started with the Nurse telling the child Prince Caspian Narnian stories: the visuals would have a terrific montage to kick things off and it would have set up the current situation perfectly (talking animals are extinct, Prince Caspian’s uncle’s evil and hates true Narnians, etc.). As it was none of that is explained well and it’s explained only in pieces throughout the film, which is much more awkward.

But despite these flaws, the film’s not that bad. True fans of the book will be somewhat disappointed, but won’t hate the film. I was impressed that many important scenes are actually in the movie, and a few are actually better than the book. For instance, the temptation to dark magic scene is fleshed out in the film with a visual of the White Witch from the first film and King Peter looking tempted; in the book we’re only told that the hag’s magic is like that of the White Witch and the temptation is not quite as clear.

Overall, this is a decent film. The special effects are occasionally over-the-top but generally well-done, the acting and casting is excellent, the scenery is stunning, the story faithful enough to the source, and whole thing a decent amusement park ride. It’s definitely worth seeing just for the experience, though the book is still better.