Prince Caspian

Tonight I went to the Clyde Theatre to see Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I'm a big fan of C.S. Lewis' science-fiction & fantasy novels, particularly his space trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength; and The Screwtape Letters. I also read the Chronicles of Narnia, but found them too childish and devoid of interesting plot elements for my taste.

That sums up my experience with this movie: Too childish and devoid of interesting plot elements. To secure the coveted PG rating, Disney has sanitized all the blood and realism from what is, essentially, a series of horrific medieval/ fantasy battles. We see dozens - no, hundreds - of bloodless stabbings, slashings, and missle wounds; bodyless mass drownings; splat-less falls from great heights; even a headless decapitation (we see the helmet). The same thing occured in The Golden Compass, and I still don't think much of the concept.

While the production values are obviously high, and the cinematography is fine -- including the effects (an extended day-for-night sequence at the beginning is particularly well done) -- the acting doesn't match up to the task. Particularly the young male leads: High King Peter is boring, snobbish, and expressionless (as he was in the first movie), and Prince Caspian has a highly variable accent of some sort. Spanish? Portugese? Icelandic? Depends. Neither has much charisma. The female leads are much better, and some of the ancillary characters are quite good.

As a final note, the Clyde Theatre continues to have difficulties with projection and sound quality. This is very distressing, since the Clyde is a favorite venue for me, and inexpensive. I'd be willing to pay more for higher quality, if Blake can deliver.

Give this one a Shot in the Dark

Movies on Whidbey Island.