My Poor Brain

4.5 out of 5

I never got a chance to watch the first Narnia movie before watching the sequel. I saw it way back when it came out on DVD, but it wasn’t very fresh in my mind. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Prince Caspian a whole lot more than expected.

When Prince Caspian started out I was expecting to be lost without any memory of the first film, but that was not the case. The film was great on two levels: 1. as a sequel showing the older children and how they have grown with experience, also the different world of Narnia 2. as a stand-alone film about a long lost world trying to fight back for it’s existence against a harsh nation of man. This film had tons more action and fighting than the first one, that is one thing I noticed without a problem. I found that to be a fantastic change of pace for the franchise. The battles were all amazing and seeing the four kids jump back into action was incredible.

I was INCREDIBLY surprised to find out that this movie had a 2hr 20min running time. This movie flew by with excitement and I NEVER felt the effects of the time while watching. A couple complaints I have comeacross have been the lack of fantasy and wonder like in the first film, and the short time Aslan appears. I, personally, thought both of those facts about the film worked FOR the film. I think the lack of fantasy and wonder work for the part of the story about Narnia being gone and underground for hundreds of years. The lack of Aslan in the movie is also true, but again I think it HELPED the story. When he does show up it is at a great time and in a perfect way.

After the first Chronicles of Narnia came out there were a bunch of films trying to capitalize on the Narnia type fantasy-adventure. A couple were decent, but most just tried too hard and failed. What Prince Caspian did so right, and what the imitators failed at so badly, they kept it simple. Within the first 20 minutes of Caspian the plot for the rest of the movie had been laid out and it didn’t take any ridiculous or annoying twists. It made the film so much easier to be enjoyed without having to worry about following confusing plot points. If you enjoyed the first Narnia film than there is NO doubt you will enjoy this one. If you didn’t see the first Narnia film, you are missing out on the wonders of Narnia, but you will love this film regardless.