The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [SPOILERS]

[Flangenimblick]

I've seen it but I'll wait on giving my review until a few others have seen it.
For those who have, what did you think?

[SlappY]

Scardy cat!

[WondaWoman]

Haven't seen it. But I read a review that said there is an epic battle scene in it - best of all computer generated battle scenes as yet. But the movie didn't allow the audience to create a connection with the characters...or some other nonsense. But it's worth a watch on the big screen.

I loved the books and read 'em all a thousand times over. I enjoyed the first Narnia movie, and thus will go see this one.

[SlappY]

To me these type of movies/books are rip offs of tolkien with less thought put in.

[Askari]

Lord of the Rings published 1954-1955 and The Lion the witch and the Wardrobe published 1950. How did CS Lewis rip off Tolkien then?

[WingNut]

Heehee, AFAIK Lewis and Tolkien were personal friends as well... so they probably bounced alot of ideas off each other.

[rainy]

LOTR may have been published in 1950, but he has been busy with the books since the 1930s. Also, 'The Hobbit' was published in 1937.

[SlappY]

Lord of the Rings published 1954-1955 and The Lion the witch and the Wardrobe published 1950. How did CS Lewis rip off Tolkien then?


LOTR may have been published in 1950, but he has been busy with the books since the 1930s. Also, 'The Hobbit' was published in 1937.

Wise ass.

[Flangenimblick]

**Spoiler Warning. Do Not read my post if you haven't seen the film.**



Another warning, my review may contain some slightly edited naughty language.



Ok, time now for my 2 cents, and I warn you I am not being kind to this film.
Although I might see it again in about a year, which is the odd thing given what I'm about to say:




I f***ing hated this film.


So much was wrong with it I dunno where to start, so I'm gonna just ramble on.

But before I begin let me state my position on Narnia and CS Lewis. I grew up reading the books and I loved them, so much so that I still read them on a regular basis. I also grew up on the original BBC series, which I currently own in DVD format, so I was very excited when the first Narnia film came out last year, to which I was somewhat disappointed as it felt like the film-maker was trying to hard to be "Lord of the Rings". This upset me greatly as the story is strong enough to stand on it's own two feet without the a**hole director, producers and writing teams butchering it. But I digress, this is about "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian".


Problems:

In the first minute (and throughout the film) I counted several shots that were IDENTICAL shots from The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, for example: the nine guards chasing Caspian into the woods. It was identical shot for shot from when Frodo and Arwen were being chased by the Nazgul! Also there was another sequence when they were trekking over a mountain which looked very similar to when the Fellowship were doing their trek.

Interesting piece of info: this Narnia film was shot in New Zealand. And guess who did the special effects? That's right, WETA digital! The same guys who did all the effects for LOTR! and much of their cinematography. Seems they couldn't get over the b*ner they had for that first sequence of shots they did in LOTR, and don't give me that "It was a homage" crap, coz a true homage to another film is hidden tastefully within the film, not f***ing blatantly deployed within the first few seconds! The Narnia films aren't even as epic as the LOTR films, so a homage shouldn't even be allowed.

Another sequence which annoyed me was the first war council with the Narnians, when the main centaur (whose claymore appears glued to his f***ing hands as it never leaves his hands, ever!) said "You have my sword.", right at that moment I was genuinely expecting Gimli to pop up and shout "And my axe!". Do these people have no shame or originality? Is this f***ing Narnia or LOTR??? I'll have to watch the film again to point out all the other LOTR thefts, but that's all I can remember for now.

Now the characters. WTF. There were only 3 characters in that whole film that DID NOT irritate the crap out of me: Edmund, Reepicheep and the red-bearded dwarf whose name escapes me (by the way his beard was f***ing horribly fake, my 8 year old niece could make a more realistic looking beard). They were the only characters who weren't suffering from downs-syndrome (Lucy), hadn't turned into Golum (Susan) or hadn't turned all emo and egotistical (Peter).

Then there's the Telmarine. WHEN THE F*** DID THE SPANISH INVADE NARNIA?? And am I the only one who saw the oh-so obvious parallel between the Spanish Inquisition and the Telmarine hatred of Narnians? I mean, come on. And half the time I couldn't make out what the bastards were saying! Elocution people!

Then there's Lord Sopespian (the other Spanish dude who betrays the evil king in the end). Talk about inconsistency. He was one of the good guys in the beginning, and continued good until he suddenly killed the f***ing king! Sure, have the betrayer! That's ok, but don't make a good guy suddenly a bad guy coz it fits your plot, you have to give the audience hints of this so that they aren't confused or left feeling uneasy over their character choice identifications (people who went to film school should know what I mean).

Then the plot, oh dear g0ds so many plot holes. I love how all through the movie the Telmarine guards and soldiers are killed indiscriminately, not one is spared or shown mercy until the end of the war. Now lets talk about Caspian here, let's assume he grew up in the castle and had a relatively good life and presumably he got on with the soldiers and guards and surely would have befriended some of them as the film constantly points out to us what a nice person he is. So we understand when he's fighting for his life, but not once does he show any remorse for hacking to death his trusted soldiers and guards, who are just following there orders btw. He only makes a big f***ing stink about how evil it is to kill people when he's given the opportunity (twice) to kill his uncle WHO KILLED HIS FATHER!!! So never mind the hundreds of men who have been killed, and the hundreds of widows and orphans now created, as long as the stupid Antonio Bandaras wannabe realises he can't kill his murdering prick of an uncle then it's ok!

Oh, and another LOTR scene was the f***ing river scene near the end. All it needed was Arwen saying "If you want him come and claim him." but instead of a set of water-horse things galloping down the river to take out Nazgul's we have a river god type thing swishing down to wipe out part of the army and EAT the new bad guy who appeared out of nowhere.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the Ent wannabes near the end, yes I know they're in the book but what was up with the super-extendo infinite root that destroyed the catapult?

And f***ing hell the dialogue in many scenes was just awful! My most hated line was the one right near the end where Aslan and Caspian meet for the first time and says something along the lines of "I don't think I'm ready." to which Aslan replies "It is exactly for that reason I know you are ready." (or something like that), I mean FFS. Did the writers take a break or put on there cheese hats or what? arg.

And what about all the orphans and widows? What the f*** happens to them? Coz it was a sh*t load of men killed in that film, you can't tell me that they were all single and childless??


I hate plot-holes, and I've never seen a movie with more plot holes than this one.



Non-problems:

The graphics were superb and many of the actors delivered worthwhile performances.
There were also many instances when I laughed along or particularly enjoyed a sequence or exchange of dialogue and despite all the problems I mentioned I still left the cinema feeling good, which was confusing given all the sh*t. So I advise people to see it, but I ask them from the bottom of my heart to not judge the Narnia stories by any measure on what they see in the cinema (which is exactly what I said concerning the LOTR films even though I love them.)




I suppose I may be too overly critical of this movie, but dammit the books mean a lot to me and I hate to see them ruined in such a manner. The movie stayed close to the story but it was too over done. This, even more than the first, felt like some kid with a camera and a budget trying to make another LOTR film, and that just pissed me off. Narnia may share story elements with LOTR but it's still strong enough to hold its own ground, and does not need crap like this, i.e. super-fantasy-action-epic-move-bullsh*t, to sell it.

Well, that's my opinion anyway. And please feel free to disagree with me.
It may be that I'm being overly critical.

[Vortex]

I can't wait to watch this! I read the books and LOVED them - the time-warp stuff was fantastic - live a whole amazing life as kings and queens of Narnia, then zap! Through the wardrobe and you're back in time to when you were a kid.. Fantastic stuff! :)

LOTR and the Narnia books are totally different - you can't equate them at all apart from there being fantasy battles.

They should both be required reading in schools IMO..

[Flangenimblick]

They should both be required reading in schools IMO..



I agree! Some varsity's in the US have made it set work in their Lit classes.

[Albereth]

Hmmm - I thought that it was all shot in Checkoslovakia.

I also thought there was bit of Fellowship in the chase scene but I thought that there were only 7 chasers and it was a bit more like the chase in Endor.

The part that really didn't work for me was the White Witch part. That could have been left out completely and the story would not have been any different. But maybe, as Robyn said, it gave the Edmund character a chance to shine.

@Flangenimblick - I think you frustrated yourself to the point that you started losing track of what was going on. The guy who gets nutted by the water elemental is the same dude who sticks the arrow in the evil king. I actually thought that who series of interactions was funny. People back who they think is powerful and when they see the gap to advance themseleves they go for it.

I'll have to read the books again to see the parallels between that volume and the movie. I sort of recall Reepicheep being on the Dawn Treader and being bigger.

It was good but the first one was better.

[Flangenimblick]

Hmmm - I thought that it was all shot in Checkoslovakia.


"Eight months were spent scouting locations, including Ireland, China and Argentina, before New Zealand, Prague, Slovenia and Poland were chosen. Whereas the previous film was predominantly shot in New Zealand with a few months of filming in Central Europe, Adamson decided New Zealand lacked enough sound stages to accommodate the larger scale of the film. The decision to film most of the picture in Europe also allowed the ability to shoot during summer in both continents."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia:_Prince_Caspian

hmmm, all over the place apparently...




I also thought there was bit of Fellowship in the chase scene but I thought that there were only 7 chasers and it was a bit more like the chase in Endor.


I might have miscounted, but seriously, go watch the fellowship chase scene again, its exactly the same.



The part that really didn't work for me was the White Witch part. That could have been left out completely and the story would not have been any different. But maybe, as Robyn said, it gave the Edmund character a chance to shine.


I agree, it did give Edmund the chance to show his stuffs.



@Flangenimblick - I think you frustrated yourself to the point that you started losing track of what was going on. The guy who gets nutted by the water elemental is the same dude who sticks the arrow in the evil king. I actually thought that who series of interactions was funny. People back who they think is powerful and when they see the gap to advance themseleves they go for it.

I think your right, I want in being too critical perhaps after I saw the first one, but that's what I do when a story is very dear to me and it's made into a movie. I suppose some would call me an "elitist f***", lol

As for the dude who gets eaten by the water elemental, I know he's the one who stabbed the king with the arrow. What I meant was that it was not clear to the audience that he was going to be a bad guy, which is fine in real life but not in a movie. At least from the middle of the film we should have gotten hints that he was going to do something nasty. At least that's what I was taught. But you're right, upon reflection it wasn't that bad.

Like I said I'll watch it again sometime after I've simmered down somewhat. I just don't like plot-holes.



I'll have to read the books again to see the parallels between that volume and the movie. I sort of recall Reepicheep being on the Dawn Treader and being bigger.


Reepicheep is definitely in the Dawn Treader, I believe he is meant to be in this one to, but it's been a while since I've read the book so I might be wrong.



It was good but the first one was better.


Agreed.

[Albereth]

Well you need to go watch it again - that guy does get worse as the movie progresses. Yes, he is all goodie two shoes in the beginning, then he is go along with it, then he is smirking when the king gets a wallop, then he is stick the arrow in the king.

But he was also well aware of who had the most troops. His guys were building the bridge while the King' troops were still at home, ready to quell any uprising. The king did commit them to crossing the river and so it all moved on.

Oh, having them have an accent was pretty cool - it sort of gave some continuity to the Telmarine side.

And I also liked the bit when all the weapons were stolen where the king asks the general how many of his men were killed? And he sort of looks around at the 3 guys standing there and says 3. Cut scene. So brutal but without the gratuitous violence. Some parts were very well done. Also liked some of the humour: 'Drop him!". "No, don't". When the guards are trying to dump the dwarf in the river and Susan has her bow out.

The 'And you wonder why we don't like you' part was funny too - well not side splittingly, but at least that line hadn't been played to death in the trailer.

[Flangenimblick]

There were some very funny scenes.

I dunno if this is true but I hear the the actor who plays Caspian is actually a britt with lots of self-tan on and an accent. Interesting.

But yeah, I will watch it again when it comes out on dvd, yo.

[Rizzy]

Spoiler warning!!!!!!!

I saw it on Friday. I thought it was brilliant! Yes, there were plot holes, but for the most part it was true to the story. For instance, the whole not seeing, seeing Aslan part was a bit misleading, cos in the book, he's with them, and Lucy sees him often, but the others, except for Susan, don't. Susie dear lies about not seeing him, for some reason. Which I thought was an integral part of her character, but they just left it out. Another problem, which I would struggle to see a solution to, was the transition of power (centre-stage) from the 4 pevensies to Caspian, who eventually has more of a role in the latter stages. People are still hung up on King Peter "the Magnificent" and not enough play was given to the new king. And I don't remember the puppy love between Susie and Caspian in the book.

You can't really escape the synchronicities with LOTR because when you bring in mythical creatures and a fight for a throne against the bad guys you kinda get the same plot. And that Centaur was a bit of a doofus. I must admit though, that scene in the courtyard at the Telmarine castle even made my eyes water up, when all those Narnian troops were left to slaughter.

Reepicheep was in Caspian, that's how we're introduced to him. And he is supposed to be taller tho. What's also awesome was that his voice was played by Eddie Izzard from "Deathstar canteen" fame.

I don't know how they're going to make the other movies tho, it'll be a bit of a problem believing that Edmund and Lucy are only a year older in the next one (Dawn Treader), and Caspian is like 5 years older.

One last cent :) : The music is absolutely awesome! it really gets you going when they battle, and that inspiring background music is going

[Voicy]

I'm still keen to see this movie, even though I expect it to suck a bit - before reading this thread.

A quick thing flange, like the saying goes "Don't just a book by its movie." It rings true all over.

The LOTR trilogy was fantastic, but they also veered from the books something awful.

a) The chase scene - Arwen was never even there. Frodo was alone on horseback and Elrond summoned the water mustangs to take out the nazgul.

2) The river scene. The two kings' statues halting those who enter - One had an axe, the other a sword - in the movie they botched it.

iii) Tom Bombadil was COMPLETELY left out - he saved the hobbits from being consumed by the trees on their way to Rivendell. He's the oldest person in middle earth that Gandalf knows of (I think he's even mentioned in The Silmarillion)

4) Ragadast the Brown - part of the wizard's council. Gandalf met him en route to Isengard. Ragadast was a wizard of the wild. He was the one who received word from Gandalf via the moth - and he summoned the Eagle KING (no mention of his status) to rescue Gandalf.

d) They do not explain why the elvish bread stock never runs out and there's NO explanation for the cloak turning into a rock infront of the black gates. These were gifts by Galadriel of lothorien to them all.


... but still the movies rocked!

[Flangenimblick]

iii) Tom Bombadil was COMPLETELY left out

I know! I was so miffed by that!

At least he's in LoTRO.

But agreed, I love LOTR and it had many failings. I think I was just being overly critical of Caspian.

You should definitely see it when you can though.

[Vortex]

I'm still keen to see this movie, even though I expect it to suck a bit - before reading this thread.

A quick thing flange, like the saying goes "Don't just a book by its movie." It rings true all over.

The LOTR trilogy was fantastic, but they also veered from the books something awful.

a) The chase scene - Arwen was never even there. Frodo was alone on horseback and Elrond summoned the water mustangs to take out the nazgul.

2) The river scene. The two kings' statues halting those who enter - One had an axe, the other a sword - in the movie they botched it.

iii) Tom Bombadil was COMPLETELY left out - he saved the hobbits from being consumed by the trees on their way to Rivendell. He's the oldest person in middle earth that Gandalf knows of (I think he's even mentioned in The Silmarillion)

4) Ragadast the Brown - part of the wizard's council. Gandalf met him en route to Isengard. Ragadast was a wizard of the wild. He was the one who received word from Gandalf via the moth - and he summoned the Eagle KING (no mention of his status) to rescue Gandalf.

d) They do not explain why the elvish bread stock never runs out and there's NO explanation for the cloak turning into a rock infront of the black gates. These were gifts by Galadriel of lothorien to them all.


... but still the movies rocked!

If you watch the extended versions of the LOTR movies, there's a fair amount cut out - some of which you mentioned.

I have to say that sometimes sticking to the book isn't an entirely good idea - I recall a lot of "They sat around the fire and sang this song:" - followed by 2 pages of lyrics! :D

Back to Narnia however, I think I read those books when I was like 10 or something, and since then I've read them a couple more times. This talk of the movie makes me want to a) Read the books again, b) Start saving up to buy the whole series, and c) Pay for someone to watch over the kids so that I can watch it NOW! :)

[Voicy]

spoiler:

So I took sunny out for a date last night (Fallen came along to keep an eye on things)

We watched the movie and it was pretty cool ... LOTS of WoW references were made.

i.e. Sunny and his trees saved the day & prince caspian dinged to become king of narnia, not to mention the chase scene where he has "carrot on a stick" trinket.

The stormwind scene was cool where the hippographs dropped all the rogues in to pwn everyone.


ok enough WoW talk, I enjoyed the fact that the kids had skillz... and that susan etc. actually killed stuff this time.

I disliked all the stolen-from-lord-of-the-rings-movie scenes and felt they could tell the exact same story without depicting the same scenes.

All in all a little darker than the first, the 'epic' battle wasn't as epic as I imagined, but rather a 'clever' battle.

Still worth the watch...

[WondaWoman]

Went to see it on the weekend. Enjoyed the 'enjoyability' of the movie - if that makes sense.

I think they're doing a fine job of translating the book into movie.

Not as enjoyable as the first on though. But worth the bucks to go see on the big screen.

[w1z4rd]

I thought the movie sucked pipe. The soundtrack was terrible. CS Lewis never really wrote an original story, but that movie just sucked. One or two cool scenes but not something I would have normally gone to the movies for if I had known how it would turn out.

[WondaWoman]

You're such a moaner :ras:

[Voicy]

Wizard is the moan-ranger :D