10:28 AM
You may notice that there is a new section on the right-hand side of the page here. This "widget" should give us all news of upcoming Narnia movies (as well as, obviously, "Prince Caspian Movie News").
While on our mini-vacation (the one where I nit-picked the elevator "flair" to pieces), we went to see Prince Caspian. I love to love my favorite books and characters being made into blockbuster movies. Matter of fact, I overlook faults on a regular basis -- I even bought the Superman boxed set (which contains Superman III and Superman IV, two flicks which are pretty much abominable, even to a staunch Superman fan like me).
Just as spaghetti sauce is occasionally missing "something," the lack of which makes us scrunch up our faces because we think it needs that certain something but can't quite put our finger on it, Prince Caspian, like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before it, felt a little hollow. I wanted to offer some thoughts because I wasn't happy with my other ideas for blog posts today. I'm interested in knowing what you thought about the movie.
To me, the movie's lack of oregano (the "something") could be the result of any one, or a combination, of these elements:
- mental CG withdrawal after having seen the 10,000-monster armies in the Lord of the Rings trilogy that dwarfed (pun sort of intended) the armies in Caspian
- heavy-handed (and sometimes poor) puns scattered throughout the movie
- occasional wisps of mediocre acting, at which I was really surprised
Some artistic license must be taken in book-to-big-screen adaptations, but when the Narnians stormed Miraz' castle (just exactly like they didn't do in the book), I wondered how it added to the mystique and suspense of the story. As it turned out, my son found this to be one of the best parts of the movie. This kind of thing is where I need to learn to be open-minded. I didn't dislike this part, but didn't see its necessity. Of course, I am not a filmmaker and know little about how to pace a movie.
Tension existed between Peter and Caspian (the Spaniard) from their first meeting onward, and while this appeared a time or two in the book, it didn't serve the story well to keep it up the whole time, in my opinion.
Speaking of Caspian's apparent Hispanic descent (he's actually a Telmarine), I'm surprised we haven't heard any outcry about the movie somehow stereotyping the Conquistadors (aren't people supposed to complain about stuff like that?). I always imagined Caspian as having a British accent, and I don't know how I'll handle hearing Prince Rilian speak with a Spanish accent, either, if the films get to The Silver Chair. Don't get me wrong -- I love Spanish accents. Just not when they mess with my preconceived notions (this is why book-to-movie scenarios rarely work for everyone).
One personal disappointment: we don't get to see the part from the book where the mean ol' school teacher is spanking a child and is turned into a tree as punishment. Rats!
On a positive note, the movie could not have been cast better, and despite its length (two hours and 35 minutes), it rarely felt like it was lumbering along, except during the second and third sixths of the movie (see summary paragraph below).
So, my from-the-hip, non-movie-critic-sounding summary (again, interested in knowing if you concur) was that the movie could be divided this way:
The first, fourth, fifth, and sixth sixths of the movie were really good, while the second and third sixths were forgettable and made me want to go browse for popcorn toppings at the concession counter. It was certainly worth the price of admission, and is definitely a film that should be seen in a theater -- great sound and visual eye-poppingness.
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2 comments:
You described my disapointment very well - lacking oregano, or something. Of course, I just assumed it was because sequels are usually a let down (except, of course, with the LOTR series). I kind of liked Caspian's different accent, but I thought it was Italian! LOL! I didn't think that the kids showed as much passion in their acting in this one as they did initially in the Wardrobe. Thanks for pointing out the castle attack. I was confused when they did that, because I didn't remember reading it in the book. I was going to re-read the book to refresh my memory (might still do that anyway). As far as the next Narnia movie, I've heard it's going to be the The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I was disasppointed to hear that because I thought The Silver Chair was way better. Maybe their doing Dawn Treader so that they can do Silver Chair later. We'll see, I guess. By then the kids would be too old, I would think.
haven't seen Prince Caspian yet but definitely looking forward to it... i'll have to look over the book one more time just to remind myself how the original story goes
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