I’ve just got back from seeing it, officially at the cinema. Any huge spoilers I will write in white writing, so if you want to read them you just highlight the text, if not, you don’t have to! 
One of the people I saw it with, would have been like many people going to see it. He had read the books as a child, hadn’t seen The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe film and so gave an objective view. Meaning my review will be a bit more objective than perhaps it would have been.
Overall I thought the film was wonderful. Andrew Adamson did a great job in turning a really uncinematic book into something you could watch and be involved in. The book, in my opinion was just an introduction for Caspian, leading to a far superior story in Voyage of the Dawn Treader. So to make such an epic film out of it was fantastic. However, I do think if you don’t have an interest in the characters, if you’ve not seen the first film and got to know them in that sense, a lot of the film can become a bit lost. For me, I love the characters and couldn’t wait to see where they were going next, but if you’re not that bothered some of the scenes can be quite boring. For example, when Lucy finds Aslan and talks to him, or when her and Peter talk at the How about him not seeing Aslan, if you’re not invested in the characters, then that scene will just pass you by. I loved those scenes, but my friend didn’t. The action based battle scenes were what grabbed his attention and everything in between he felt quite bored.
Personally I think the casting of the Pevensie children in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was perfect. So this obviously carries on to this film. You really believe they are siblings and it shows through some of the subtler actions, such as Lucy comforting Peter at the Station after the fight by rubbing his arm, or Peter holding Lucy after the bear has chased her. The bond has carried on from the first film and you can see they really care for one another. Ben Barnes as Caspian was well cast also, he did well in his scenes, but I didn’t feel that he was a commanding presence. Tilda Swinton for example, when she comes on screen, she just takes the whole scene, she is an amazing actress and she gets your attention when she comes on. Ben I felt he didn’t quite do this, but this my be due to the fact he was playing a character who was supposed to be humble and not used to his role in commanding troops.
Peter (William Moseley) has changed a little from the book. He’s a lot more arrogant in the film than the book, but I don’t think it is such a bad thing. In the book he is a very perfect character, he doesn’t seem to have changed at all since coming back to England when reining as High King. But of course these experiences will change you and I think that came through really well. He was still noble and he still cared deeply for those around him, he just seemed to take all the responsibility of saving Narnia onto his own shoulders, not listening to others. This goes well with LWW film, for example when they have to see the Professor after Edmund betrays Lucy about being in Narnia, Peter is quick to say “we can handle it“, not wanting to give up the responsibility of sorting it out himself. William Moseley’s acting in this film was superb (and I’m not just saying it because I think he’s rather good-looking) and I think he far surpassed Ben Barnes in the scenes they had together.
Susan (Anna Popplewell) is another character changed from the book. The book portrays her to be a quite passive person, not wanting to battle, and being indeed ‘Gentle‘ as her title suggests. In the film she is right in there with the action, killing people etc. I wasn’t too fussed by this change, she was fighting for her country and to save her people, I think any Queen, gentle or not would do the same. However with this in mind, the Caspian and Susan flirting and kiss I wasn’t keen on. I know they are supposed to be older and more mature in this film, which is fair enough, but I don’t think that’s reason enough to create a bit of romance in a film where they most certainly wasn’t any in the book. It’s one thing adding in a scene to help tell the story, but I don’t feel this helps tell it at all, it just makes it seem more Hollywood-ised. There was a certain bit of disapproving muttering during the kiss from all the people watching the film.
Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) were much like their characters in the book. I didn’t feel there was enough of Edmund in the film. The scenes that had Edmund in them were great and I feel they could have utilised Skandar a lot more than they did. But hey ho, he’s still got Dawn Treader to be in.
The CGI in this film was really stepped up from LWW, it was wonderful. Did anyone else notice Aslan’s eye colour change though? I may just be imagining things but I thought they were more green in LWW. That’s not important though. The scenery was all really beautiful, as were the sets.
One thing for sure is Andrew Adamson sure knows how to conduct a battle scene. The Castle Night Raid was just amazing, I felt like crying when the soldiers got left behind to die. William Moseley did a fantastic job in that scene, his eyes just portrayed so much emotion, it was really sad and I really felt for all the characters. The end battle as well was just fantastic, really well directed and acted.
In all, I think the film was great. Andrew Adamson did a great job, although I do think he did a better job in LWW and he made a few too many changes perhaps in this one. But then, it’s a lesser known book than LWW, so I suppose he was able to. It was very much a sequel rather than being a film in its own right I think. The Pevensie children were in it much more than Caspian, so marketing wise I think perhaps they should have focused more on them. I know the title is Prince Caspian, but fans from LWW hadn’t bonded with him, it’s the Pevensies they like. Despite not having an amazing amount of screen time however, I do feel as though I care for Caspian now as much as I do the Pevensies. I think Adamson possibly assumed a bit much that the audience knows what is going on and knows the characters. Which is great from a fans point of view, but not from a general viewer.
The actors/actresses were really wonderful. I don’t have a problem at all with them. I am sad that Peter and Susan won’t be back, I miss them already! I do wonder what the next film will be like without them, particularly Peter, seeing as in this film, I felt his character really carried it. I think Tilda’s scene was fantastic, one of my favourites and Reepicheep gave some comic relief when it was needed. As did some of the cheesy lines. I don’t think they were meant to make people laugh, but there were some rather cheesy moments.
Despite any criticisms….I did really love it. I’m going to see it again soon. I can’t wait till it comes out on DVD. OK I’m done.
