Backlog: Prince Caspian highs and lows

(Warning: if you have not read the book, this may contain spoilers)

I saw Prince Caspian on Saturday night. It was a pretty good movie. The slightly melancholy thing is that it could have been a really good movie. However, I was expecting it to be pretty good all the way through, and instead it had an excellent beginning, a solid finish and a rotten middle. So, I can both be pleasantly surprised and a tad disappointed at the overall quality of the film.

The beginning was absolutely great. It was exciting, visually impressive and true to both the events and the spirit of the book. There were a few minor issues with Peter being kind of a jerk, but overall this part of the movie plays out beautifully. I especially liked the portrayal of Nikabrik (right out of the book and just as I pictured him), Reepicheep (who I feared would be turned into a complete imbecile), the part of the movie when Lucy thinks she sees Aslan and the subsequent return to the gorge and walking down the rock path (again, as I watched the rock path and the stream in the gorge, it was if it was taken straight out of my mind’s eye. I was enthralled).

The charm of these opening sequences is only enhanced for those who have read the book. The images are brought to life beautifully, and most of the characters leap off of the screen as supersized images of their literary counterparts. Adamson keeps the pace up and the interest high, even for those who already know the story.

At any rate, I was entirely pleased as I watched the beginning of the movie. Then, Caspian and Peter met. This was where the real problems began for me. Right away, Peter and Caspian begin trading ridiculous verbal barbs, and your dislike of Peter begins to grow and grow. Andrew Adamson, the director of the film, said that the reason he put this odd conflict between Caspian and Peter (which only grows larger and more annoying as the film progresses) is so that Peter’s character could be fleshed out more. Adamson said that Peter always seemed a bit too “stiffly heroic” in the books.

Well, that’s true. Peter is, at times, “stiffly heroic” in the books, but that is how Lewis wrote the books, and it works for Peter just fine. There was no need to introduce this particular “character development” into the film, and the film suffers for it.

Also, around this time, the observant members of the audience begin to notice a slight romantic interest between Caspian and Susan. Again, like the Peter/Caspian conflict, this is nowhere in the book, it only increases as the movie goes on and it doesn’t help move the plot or Susan’s character anywhere. It also makes for some cheesy moments in the film. At one point, when Caspian offers Susan’s horn back to her, she flirtatiously says something along the lines of “No, you might need to call me again.” As she and Lucy ride off on their mission, Lucy incredulously repeats Susan’s line as if to say “really?” That is precisely the question I was asking myself as I watched these scenes unfold.

The last thing that quite bothered me was the castle siege. Now, before I get the sarcastic remarks about how I’m one of those people who get incredibly peeved every time something is left out of or changed in a movie based on a book, I’m not one of those people. I understand that books and cinema are not the same thing. For example, there are definite issues of chronology and changed events (yes, even a GASP leaving out of Aslan in one scene) that occur in the beginning of the movie, but they are there because the movie needs to be a movie, not a book. I get it, and I think that these things can be handled well (like in Fellowship of the Ring) or poorly (like in The Two Towers).

The castle siege is not handled well. There is absolutely no reason for it to be there, and much of it is appears to be Adamson’s attempt to ape the Lord of the Rings movies. The only result is a generic battle scene shot in a way very similar to much of The Two Towers, a lame sight gag with a tied up cat and an excuse to insert more controversy into the relationship between Peter and Caspian. Also, was I the only person who was displeased with the centrality of a flashlight to the plot points of that scene?

Anyway, enough with the complaining.The duel between Peter and Miraz was most excellent. Even though you know who is going to win, it still manages to be intense and highly enjoyable. The treasonous second in command is done quite well, and the battle scene is pretty cool. The end isn’t as awe-inspiring or as magical as the beginning (partly because we’ve seen much of this before … in, again, Lord of the Rings), but it is still a solid finish. The way they handle the magical door back into the present is handled very nicely—it reminded me a little bit of the doors in Monsters Inc. Also, I highly enjoyed the “I left my lamp in Narnia” bit at the end—a nice nod to fans of the book.

On the whole, the movie was good. I wish I could give it an A. Portions of the film certainly deserve that. However, the superfluous castle siege, the bickering between Peter and Caspian and the shoehorned love story knock the film down to a B.