I would make a terrible movie reviewer, if only because there are very few film genres that I enjoy. I don’t like horror, or thrillers, or most action, or dramas, “art” films, or anything with a lot of gore. Mostly I like comedies, sci-fi, fantasy, and the occasional rom-com. So if you liked Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, please don’t be offended that I didn’t I do not represent movie viewers as a whole.
Also, there are some big ol’ SPOILERS ahead, so if you don’t want the SPOILERS to SPOIL your movie experience, don’t read the SPOILERS.
SPOILERS~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~!
Middle East = BAD GUYS
All the bad guys are Mediterranean-leaning-towards-Arabic looking, except for Caspian, who is for some reason Spanish. Could the actors not have got together ten minutes before shooting and decided on one accent for them all to use? Caspian has Spanish and all the other guys are vaguely Middle-Eastern. You can actually tell which of the “nice” bad guys will turn out to be BAD bad guys by how Arabic they look (the baddest bad guy looks just like Saddam Hussein). According to Wikipedia they were going for a Spanish/conquistador vibe with the armor, etc., so I don’t know why they can’t all speak in Spanish accents. Not that it would have been much better to typecast Spanish people, but at least it’s not jingoistic.
Yeah, THIS is what Lewis was thinking…
I’ll be honest – I think I might have read this when I was a kid, but I don’t remember a lick of it. I have been talking with some friends who have read the books recently (Jenna, mostly) and they confirmed that there is nowhere near the amount of time devoted to battle in the books that there is in the movie. In fact, the whole castle attack was made up for the film, based on an offhand comment the mouse had in the books about wanted to attack the Telmarines. There seemed to be a real desire to turn this into a Lord of the Rings for kids, complete with a straight up theifing of the arrow stabbing scene in Fellowship (check Susan during the castle siege ). To my understanding C.S. Lewis was less about conflict and more about relationships. And I know, I know, a totally faithful adaptation of the book would have made a terrible movie since the Pevinses’ aren’t even around for the first four chapters, but then why would you want to make a movie of a book that wouldn’t make a good movie in the first place?
(PS – and don’t get me started on bringing the White Witch back. What purpose did that serve, aside from bringing back the best performer from the first film? Also, look for a cameo of Tilda Swanson near the end as a centaur)
Where’s Edmund?
From his first line in Caspian I was excited to see what Edmund was going to be about in this one. He’s a very rogueish and watchable character. But he gets thrown aside in this film and does very little aside from swordfighting a dwarf and playing with a flashlight. I understand they wanted to give the lion’s share (HIYO) of the screen time to Susan and Peter since it’s their last kick at the can for Narnia, but watching Peter throw hissyfits every fifteen minutes while Susan moons over Caspian didn’t really excite me. It sucks that Edmund’s (and to a lesser extent, Lucy’s) screen time suffers, especially since they’re going to be expected to carry the next film.
We get it. Aslan is Jesus.
SUSAN: “Why couldn’t I see Aslan?”
LUCY: “Maybe you weren’t looking for him”
Oy, vey. Caspian reaches into the Bucket o’ Popcorn Theology pretty consistently and pulls out handfuls vague sampler-worthy quotes that are disingenuous at best, out-and-out incorrect at worst. I showed you at best, and here’s at worst:
PETER: When’s Aslan going to prove himself to us?
LUCY: Maybe we need to prove ourselves to him.
That’s right. Jesus is Emilio Estevez’ dad in The Breakfast Club. You must win a wrestling meet before he gives you his love. There are no losers in God’s family.
So who liked it?
Also, there are some big ol’ SPOILERS ahead, so if you don’t want the SPOILERS to SPOIL your movie experience, don’t read the SPOILERS.
SPOILERS~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~!
Middle East = BAD GUYS
All the bad guys are Mediterranean-leaning-towards-Arabic looking, except for Caspian, who is for some reason Spanish. Could the actors not have got together ten minutes before shooting and decided on one accent for them all to use? Caspian has Spanish and all the other guys are vaguely Middle-Eastern. You can actually tell which of the “nice” bad guys will turn out to be BAD bad guys by how Arabic they look (the baddest bad guy looks just like Saddam Hussein). According to Wikipedia they were going for a Spanish/conquistador vibe with the armor, etc., so I don’t know why they can’t all speak in Spanish accents. Not that it would have been much better to typecast Spanish people, but at least it’s not jingoistic.
Yeah, THIS is what Lewis was thinking…
I’ll be honest – I think I might have read this when I was a kid, but I don’t remember a lick of it. I have been talking with some friends who have read the books recently (Jenna, mostly) and they confirmed that there is nowhere near the amount of time devoted to battle in the books that there is in the movie. In fact, the whole castle attack was made up for the film, based on an offhand comment the mouse had in the books about wanted to attack the Telmarines. There seemed to be a real desire to turn this into a Lord of the Rings for kids, complete with a straight up theifing of the arrow stabbing scene in Fellowship (check Susan during the castle siege ). To my understanding C.S. Lewis was less about conflict and more about relationships. And I know, I know, a totally faithful adaptation of the book would have made a terrible movie since the Pevinses’ aren’t even around for the first four chapters, but then why would you want to make a movie of a book that wouldn’t make a good movie in the first place?
(PS – and don’t get me started on bringing the White Witch back. What purpose did that serve, aside from bringing back the best performer from the first film? Also, look for a cameo of Tilda Swanson near the end as a centaur)
Where’s Edmund?
From his first line in Caspian I was excited to see what Edmund was going to be about in this one. He’s a very rogueish and watchable character. But he gets thrown aside in this film and does very little aside from swordfighting a dwarf and playing with a flashlight. I understand they wanted to give the lion’s share (HIYO) of the screen time to Susan and Peter since it’s their last kick at the can for Narnia, but watching Peter throw hissyfits every fifteen minutes while Susan moons over Caspian didn’t really excite me. It sucks that Edmund’s (and to a lesser extent, Lucy’s) screen time suffers, especially since they’re going to be expected to carry the next film.
We get it. Aslan is Jesus.
SUSAN: “Why couldn’t I see Aslan?”
LUCY: “Maybe you weren’t looking for him”
Oy, vey. Caspian reaches into the Bucket o’ Popcorn Theology pretty consistently and pulls out handfuls vague sampler-worthy quotes that are disingenuous at best, out-and-out incorrect at worst. I showed you at best, and here’s at worst:
PETER: When’s Aslan going to prove himself to us?
LUCY: Maybe we need to prove ourselves to him.
That’s right. Jesus is Emilio Estevez’ dad in The Breakfast Club. You must win a wrestling meet before he gives you his love. There are no losers in God’s family.
So who liked it?
6 comments:
I liked it. I am not ashamed. American movies always portray their current enemy as bad in their movies. See Germany, Russia, Vietnam. Not that it's right, it's just not a big deal.
Lord of the Rings IS for kids. Kids with really good attention spans.
People stab with arrows. Lord of the Rings didn't trademark that move, Robin Hood's probably done it a thousand times.
What have you got against Peter and Susan?
I watch you throw hissy fits every 15 minutes.
CS Lewis made it pretty obvious that Aslan is Jesus too. Why is that a bad thing? Because if it were any less obvious we'd all say that they glossed over the Aslan/Jesus symbolism.
FOR ASLAN! (bear voice).
Hahahahha, Kristi
"for Aslan!"
I haven't seen this movie yet, and I'm not sure I'll bother. I'm a big purist because I loved (LOVE, rather) the books. I gave up hope for accuracy of C.S. Lewis's vision when the first Narnia movie ended up seeming to trivializing the deep and profound truths woven throughout the book. I suppose the movie was mildly entertaining, though, so if I end up watching the 2nd movie I will probably do so out of boredom or vague curiosity.
By the way, in "The Horse and His Boy", I seem to remember a lot of "middle eastern" type bad guys... so I suppose C.S. Lewis isn't perfect either.
FRIG...! spelling.
the first movie ended up SEEMING TO TRIVIALIZE the truths... is what I meant...
The more I talk to people the more it seems that I may be the only one seeing the Arabic thing, so I'll concede that point.
When you start paying $20 an hour to watch me, I'll stop throwing hissy fits. Movies need to be held to that same standard.
Lewis had actual theology to back him up, though, not these pretentiously vague soundbites to placate the Christian veiwers without off-putting the secular audience.
I am glad you liekd it though (seriously, i like when people like things).
In regards to my comment about the Arab connection in The Horse and His Boy, it was more of an agreement with your observation, as in, "Even though I haven't seen 'Caspian' yet I'm not surprised at all there are bad-guy pseudo Arab roles, because of Narnia books I've read with Arab-like bad guys." I guess I was always a little uncomfortable with the idea of 'evil Arabs' in the books, though I still love C. S. Lewis. I hope the movie version of The Horse and His Boy doesn't get too crazy in that regard. Anyway, all that to say I agree with you about the Arabic thing.
Yes CS Lewis had theology, but these books were primarily written for kids first and theology a very distant second .. and as any human, CS Lewis had flawed theology at times.
Having said that, i liked the movie - not because it was super true to the book, but because it was kind of fun. Peter does through some hissy fits in the book, and i don't know that i remember Edmund being a huge character -- Lucy held more of the stage.
The book also took a whole lot longer to get to any kind of battle/conflict etc. A good chunk is just the journey -- something the movie makes into a fairly minor event.
but ya -- i liked it, not as much as the book, but there are only a handful of movies that are near as good as the original book was.
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