Prince Caspian review

I went to see Prince Caspian Friday with Patsy, Blake and Tanner. I have been a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia since I was in 4th grade. That said I almost have to give my thoughts on this movie in two veins. First as a fan of the book and secondly as a movie goer, dad and Children's Pastor. I am going to mesh them all together though.

Let's start with the positive:

1. The effects are stunning. It is so cool to see the noble centaurs, the talking beasts, the dwarfs and other creatures of my childhood come to life on the big screen.

2. The main characters are all faithful and done well. The 4 children are played very well, with a couple of exceptions. Reepicheep was awesome. Aslan again was terrific. Trumpkin and Nickabrick were portrayed very nicely.

3. Of course the battle scenes are incredible, although at times wonder if Disney thinks the keys to selling these movies are great battle scenes and "dreamy guys." Maybe they're right?

4. Some of the key lines are left intact. Aslan's talks with Lucy are so vital in making the book a great book. "Things never happen the same way twice" for instance. "Not for your dignity but for the love of your people" is another great line.

5. Overall it is a great movie for kids 7 and older all the way through to the oldest adult. Nothing objectionable - a few "scary scenes" for younger kids.

My objections to the movie. I will limit them to three.

1. The kiss. The subtle flirting between Susan and Caspian was enough but the kiss at the end was too much for a fan of the books. I am sure all the young ladies int eh audience thought this was the best part. I am not in the boat of fans that say this destroyed the whole movie. But I wonder if we really have come this far that we can not make a movie without some love interest going on. It was no where to be found in the book.

2. The storyline. I realize they had to change it some to get the kids involved during the whole movie, but there were some things that were drastic. Why did Trumpkin have to be captured before he even met Caspian or knew anything was going on? Storming the castle made for lots of excitement but it never happened. Couldn't they have made another battle scene. The Telmarines were the aggressors not the Narnians. The overall theme of the faithful Narnians trying to help the ones who lost faith believe again was lost as well.

3. Some of the character development felt wrong. Peter seemed to angry from the start. Caspian had no awe of the 4 children. Susan was a bit too warrior-like. Trufflehunter was barely involved.

I know all of my beefs are because I am a fan of the books. As just a pure movie I would say go see it for families and then use the movie as a spring board to read or re-read the book as a family together.