Prince Caspian, with Many, Many Spoilers

In spite of what I had read here and here, last night we went to see Prince Caspian.

This isn't going to be a movie review, more of a list of what we liked and what we didn't, and if you haven't seen it yet, you should quit reading, because I don't want to spoil it for you. But we really loved it, a bit to our surprise. We had read the book aloud as a family, and two of us in the family practically know it by heart, and yes, there were many things that were different from the book. But in most cases, we were willing to accept them and understood why the film-makers found them necessary.

What we liked:

- It made sense to us that Peter had become a bit of a belligerent, obnoxious teenager. It wouldn't be too easy to make the transition from High King to an ordinary schoolboy wearing that goofy uniform.

- While I kind of missed the part from the book where they slowly, gradually made the connection that they were in Cair Paravel, I was OK with them telescoping it a bit. And the scenery was beautiful.

- At first I was not at all happy about Trumpkin being taken to Miraz's castle but it did give us a chance to meet Glozelle and Sopespian and get some context for why they weren't too fond of Miraz. If they were going to reshape the order of the story, they did it well, I thought. I liked it that they transitioned into Trumpkin being in the boat with the soldiers - kind of rejoining the book's version of events.

- I loved the banter between the children and Trumpkin and found it very much in the spirit of the book, even if the actual things said were different. A favorite: Peter introducing himself as "Peter the Magnificent," Susan's response, "You could probably have left off the magnificent," and Trumpkin's dry, "Probably." Some reviews I read were negative about the portrayal of Trumpkin but I liked him. Sure, he is more important in the book because it's from him that we learn all about Caspian's childhood and what led up to the situation in Narnia, but I liked the cynical way the movie Trumpkin viewed the past and the present.

- I liked Caspian's encounters with the Old Narnians.

- Reepicheep! I was preparing to be horrified by the portrayal of this favorite character, but I wasn't. I thought he was great. He was swaggering, courageous, over-sensitive (witness his response when Lucy calls him "cute"). I liked the part when he showed up for the first time. I liked his dialogue and we all loved the scene where he tied up the cat. I can't wait to see him in Dawn Treader.

- The conflict between Peter and Caspian, while not in the book, made sense.

- I didn't even mind the whole added bit with storming Miraz's castle. It gave us an opportunity to see Caspian's relationship with Miraz and to find out that Queen Prunaprismia wasn't in on the bad stuff Miraz was doing. And I loved it that Edmund got to use his torch. The birds/aircraft were wonderful. And I liked that they got it wrong, and then had a chance to make things right.

- Others have said that Aslan hardly shows up, but that's kind of the point. They feel abandoned by him, and yet he's there, all over. He's there in the reminders of the past - the Stone Table, the carvings and pictures on the wall, the books Cornelius guards so carefully. He's there in the belief of those who remain loyal to him, especially Lucy and the wonderful Trufflehunter. Isn't this exactly what we go through? Aslan isn't a vending machine and he doesn't do things the way anybody expects - just like God.

- Is Peter great, or what? There were so many scenes when you could see despair and disbelief in his eyes - he was just trying to do the right thing and it kept on turning out wrong. I can relate, Peter.

- The scene with the river at the end is brilliant.

- I loved it that the girls had more action than in the book, though I know Lewis probably wouldn't agree with me. ("Battles are ugly when women fight," says Aslan in one of the books. Then again, the girls did ride to the wars in The Horse and his Boy.) (Oops, my daughter says it was Father Christmas that said it, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)



What we didn't like:

- My daughter thought the scene where the children get pulled into Narnia was a bit overdone, with the collapsing walls, etc.

- I agree with those who thought Caspian was too old. And his accent was weird - kind of off and on.

- We didn't like it that the scene where Lucy sees Aslan in the woods at night was turned into a dream sequence. Then again, if Aslan isn't going to show up until the end... I guess I was ambivalent about this part.

- We were also ambivalent about the scene where the White Witch is called back. This was just an expansion of the scene in the book, but what's with the blood she needs to return? Just a little too weird. And this was the one part my daughter found too scary.

- I couldn't understand what Lucy and Susan were sent into the woods to do. While I liked the drama of them riding off alone, and I loved it when Lucy met Aslan, I'm not sure what the plan was if Aslan hadn't shown up - and clearly he wasn't at their beck and call.

- My daughter didn't like the Caspian/Susan kiss. In fact, it made her gag a little bit, I think. But I didn't mind it.


In all, as I said at the beginning, we loved the movie. We felt it was true to the spirit of the original even though some of the details were different. We can't understand why some felt it was "slow" and "boring." And it was fun to find surprises in a story we know so well. Trumpkin tells the children (after the encounter with the bear) that they may find Narnia more savage than they remember it. The movie Narnia is more savage, and less clearcut, than the book Narnia, but I liked that. I still love the book, but the movie added to my appreciation for the story.

So what do you think?