Film Reviews

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

• Rating:
• Director: Andrew Adamson
• Starring: Ben Barnes
• Details: UK / USA / 144mins (12A)

It's been a year since our gang of fearless adolescents bolted through the wardrobe, but a thousand for everyone else in Narnia - and it's not the same place it was when they left. The Narnians have been forced underground after a lickin' in a war, and the land is now run by the dastardly General Miraz, who is the uncle to the real heir of the throne, Prince Caspian (Barnes). Caspian must fight alongside the Pevensie kids and an amassed gang of Narnians to, once again, leave the region in peace. Much has been made of the fact that Caspian has a darker tone than the first installment, and whilst that's true, we're hardly dealing with The Dark Knight here. This is still nothing more than escapism for younger teenagers, and while it has its moments for the more mature family members (say, people over 16), it still hasn't got the genre-transcending scope of Lord Of The Rings to cross over and become a genuine epic. There is undoubtedly a good time to be had if your expectations have been lowered after the bland first installment, though. Most of the Pevensie family have grown slightly into their roles, after forced turns first time around - most notably Anna Popplewell. The battle scenes are well-handled by director Adamson, and Barnes is suitably swashbuckling, coming across like a less-annoying Orlando Bloom. Not that he has a lot to do, mind. He generally just looks debonair and spritely, delivering his lines applicably; nothing more, nothing less. The script mainly leaves the action to Moseley, who still comes across as far too snobbish to be yielding a weapon of limited annihilation and partaking in duels. You wouldn't want this kid running with scissors, never mind swinging a large sword about. But crucially, it's still a massive improvement on the first film, and if they keep churning them out to this level, we'll have a classic by the eleventh one.

Review by Mike Sheridan