After the highly successful "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", it was projected that the sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" would rise to even higher heights. The opening weekend was expected to be huge but fell well short of expectation and since then has been beaten down the box office rankings by both "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones". This begs the question as to why the film fell so far short of expectation.
In the sequel, the four Pevensie children, who starred in the first movie, return to the world of Narnia to discover it has changed almost beyond compare. Their great castle is now a ruin, they have become figures of legend and the native Narnians have been driven almost to the point of extinction by the ruthless Telmarines. It is one of these Telmarines, Prince Caspian, who has summoned them back to help him claim the throne stolen from him by his Uncle Miraz and reclaim Narnia for its natives.
It is not only Narnia that has changed. The eldest sibling, Peter (played by William Moseley), has struggled to adjust from being "High King Peter the Magnificent" to being plain old Peter Pevensie from Finchley. His rebellious streak is not consistent with C.S. Lewis' novel's portrayal of the character but comes across as far more realistic. After all, it can't be an easy adjustment to make.
Susan (played by Anna Popplewell) has also gotten older and develops a rather annoying crush on Prince Caspian. Like at the beginning of the first movie, she seems ill-at-ease with the magical realm and struggles to settle in. There is a scene between Susan and Lucy that does an excellent job of fore-shadowing the fact that Susan, in later instalments of the series, was the only Pevensie to stop believing in Narnia. Susan also gets to fight alongside her brothers in this one, getting one in for the girls.
Edmund (played by Skandar Keynes) has the strongest role of the four children, though Peter tends to take the limelight. From an insecure young man at the beginning of the previous film, he has really grown into himself. While at one point he describes the fact that he is King Edmund, not Prince Edmund, second to his brother the High King, as "confusing", he seems perfectly comfortable with it. He supports his elder brother while understanding Peter's weaknesses well enough to know when he needs to step in.
Lucy, the youngest, (played by Georgie Henley) is now too old to be cute and too young to be much else. While one of Lewis' favourite characters, she comes off as a bit bland in this film. Having the strongest faith in Aslan, the Christ-figure of the series, she is the one who is entrusted with saving the day, a duty that keeps her out of the way for much of the film.
Prince Caspian (played by Ben Barnes) is the new kid on the block and was cast to be considerably older than his character in the novel. He was also cast to be heartthrob of the film. And he is gorgeous. He ends up being shunted into the background by the Pevensies but this appears to be deliberate on the part of the director. The juxtaposition between the scene where the Narnians pledge their allegiance to him and the one just a little while later where he becomes second (or third) fiddle to Peter is striking. Barnes portrays an introspective character struggling to come to terms with his role in and relationship to Narnia, which is consistent with the Lewis' character despite his age. His accent, though, is a tad odd.
The film's plot is not quite the same as the book but the adjustments are necessary due to the structure of the novel. In the novel, the Pevensies are summoned much later and only arrive near the end of the action. This would not have worked for the movie and the changes are effective. There are some especially poignant pieces in the first of the two main battles in the film that would not have been possible with the book's storyline.
The plot, then, is good. There are memorable one-liners. The character development, particularly the Peter-Caspian and Peter-Edmund dynamics, is strong. Cameos from the red-bearded dwarf, Trumpkin (played by Peter Dinklage), and the blood-thirsty mouse, Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard), are excellent. Why then has this film not lived up to its predecessor's reputation?
One reason given is that it was released in May, rather than in December like "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". However, this explanation is a bit lacking though it points to the deeper problem. Releasing it in May rather than December reflects its positioning as not being a children's film to the same extent as the first movie.
In the first movie, the emotional weight of the story lies with the youngest two siblings, Lucy and Edmund. Lucy discovers the magical world in the wardrobe and Edmund comes to terms with his dark side. In the second, not only are the younger siblings older, but the emotional weight has shifted to their elder siblings and to Caspian. Both Peter and Caspian are making, and struggling with, the transition to manhood. Susan and Caspian are falling in love. Edmund has a number of great moments but we don't see enough of him and Lucy, as mentioned before, gets sent out of the action. Added to this, there is too much violence in the film for younger children and the whole mood of the film is darker and more "savage".
It was marketed as such and this is, to some extent, consistent with Lewis' novel. Keeping a younger Caspian would have helped make the film more child-friendly and prevented the necessity of introducing a love story (I mean, what seventeen-year-old girl wouldn't fall in love with Ben Barnes?). The film ends up being too dark for children, too little love/lust for teens and too magical for adults. This doesn't leave it without a target market: it is a great film for those old enough that the violence is no problem but with enough of a child within to suspend disbelief and enjoy the coming-of-age story. There are plenty of these around and the film should close with respectable numbers, just not quite what the producers would have liked.
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