<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=prince_caspian_559230294.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=prince_caspian_559230294.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian">
										
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								<span>A few things have changed since the first Chronicles of 
Narnia film arrived on the scene. In the sequel, Prince Caspian, the 
principal actors are a little older and more proficient.<br><br>The 
director, Andrew Adamson, seems more confident; the action scenes are 
smoother and more polished. The Christian allegories are not as awkward 
and heavy-handed.<br><br>It's a better movie all around, though still 
not a great one. Like its predecessor, it is plot-heavy, with very 
little attention paid to characterization. You'll recall that there are 
four siblings at the center -- and three of them come off as total 
ciphers here. It wasn't until I re-read my review of the first film that
 I remembered that Edmund (Skandar Keynes) used to be rebellious. If he 
still is, there's little sign of it. If he isn't anymore, then what is 
he instead?<br><br>The Pevensie child who does not get the short shrift 
is the oldest, Peter (William Moseley), who returns to Narnia with his 
siblings when they are summoned by a distress call. It's been a year for
 them, but several centuries in Narnia-time, and a usurping family has 
stolen the throne and forced all the Narnian magical creatures into 
hiding in the forest. The ruling family's teenage Prince Caspian (Ben 
Barnes) is now hiding, too, because his uncle, the evil King Miraz 
(Sergio Castellitto), having finally produced a male heir for himself, 
has no reason to let Caspian keep living. Miraz is leading the army into
 the forest to find and kill Caspian (and any Narnians that get in the 
way); Caspian and the Pevensie kids must rally the troops, fight back, 
and at last reclaim the throne.<br><br>Peter, now more serious and 
grown-up than the last time we saw him, readily adopts his previous 
position as rightful king of Narnia and deeply considers the options 
that lie before him. Caspian, meanwhile, is more hotheaded and emotional
 -- which is understandable, considering his uncle wants to kill him -- 
and this leads to recklessness. It also leads, inevitably, to Peter's 
sister Susan (Anna Popplewell) developing a crush on Caspian, in a 
subplot so underdeveloped that it is an insult to subplots.<br><br>Meanwhile,
 young Lucy (Georgie Henley) insists that Aslan, the mighty Jesus-lion, 
will yet return and save the day. Her siblings do not share her faith. 
Lucy even claims to have glimpsed Aslan here and there. When Peter asks 
why he didn't see him, Lucy says, "Maybe you weren't looking." This is 
fraught with spiritual import. In fact, everything with Lucy is fraught 
that way.<br><br>Among the new characters the young people encounter are
 dwarfs named Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and Nikabrik (Warwick Davis), 
plus a mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard) whose small stature has given him a
 persecution complex. No one takes a talking mouse seriously, even if he
 does have a sword.<br><br>Light touches like that abound in the film, 
but there is ample darkness, too. Its PG rating represents an astounding
 lapse in judgment on the part of the MPAA, as the film is rife with 
stabbing, slicing, and death. Someone's head gets chopped off. Lots of 
good creatures are slain while others look on, powerless to help. Very 
little blood is actually shown, but still, the slaughter is endless. (I 
don't hold the faulty rating against the film itself, of course. I point
 it out merely as a reminder for parents with young children.)<br><br>The
 battle scenes are well orchestrated and often thrilling. There is also a
 chilling sequence where someone contemplates a turn to dark magic, and 
two horrific creatures, one wolflike and one resembling a ghastly 
bird-headed woman, appear. Moments like that give the film some weight, 
particularly insofar as they give the characters something complicated 
to think about.<br><br>Predictably, the film's running time -- almost 2 
1/2 hours -- feels too long, especially given the story's basic 
simplicity. And ultimately, the only way the film makes sense is if it's
 read as a Christian allegory. Taken strictly at face value, it's 
nonsensical: If Aslan is all-powerful, why doesn't he arrive sooner and 
defeat the bad guys single-handedly? What makes anyone think he's going 
to come back at all? Why does he come back when he does? What, exactly, 
is Aslan's connection to everyone? Is he their king? Their god? Their 
buddy? These questions are easily answered if you replace "Aslan" with 
"Jesus" and fill in the biblical blanks, but that limits the movie's 
potential reach. Someone with no knowledge of Christian theology would 
be baffled by the movie's strange narrative and leo ex machina ending.<br><br>Of
 course, the only people with no complex knowledge of Christian theology
 who are likely to see the film are young children, and they won't care 
about the story's structural flaws. It's the grown-ups who might feel 
slightly underwhelmed by it all, though they'll likely be moderately 
entertained by the action and adventure.</span>
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