Prince Caspian, for those of you who don't know is the second book in the series The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Walden Media and Walt Disney are currently working together to recreate Narnia in a movie series based on the books.
So, I went to see Prince Caspian yesterday, and was one of the privileged few to see it on it's opening day. I was told that I had to write a blog post comparing the movie to the book. This, you must understand, is a much harder task than I expected, because the two are so different that the only thing they have in common is that they both have a prince named "Caspian." (Okay, a slight exaggeration......) But I am wondering how to start this. :)
The basic plots of the two are comparatively different; I think the movie has been "electrified," meaning that such additions as a night raid on King Miraz's castle and having Caspian actually be chased by soldiers during his escape for King Miraz appear.
The attitudes of Peter and Caspian are different from the book, as well. Peter is thinking of himself as high king once more, and a constant strife is between him and Caspian from their very meeting. It is soon cleared up, however, in a nice fashion, and you come away feeling satisfied. Edmund is as good a fighter as he is in the books and keeps his character very well. Lucy does about the same. Caspian has a sort of revenge for his uncle, which he has in the book, but here it is more prominent. He is struggling with trying to be better than his uncle was as a king, and finding it difficult.
The seemingly unimportance of Aslan continues, and this is rather disappointing. For example, instead of coming earlier like in the book, he has to be "wooed" to come, or so it would seem. You certainly don't get the idea of him being an untamed lion. The part where he throws Trumpkin up into he air is missing. However, he still heals Reepicheep's tail, and that is something that only Aslan could do.
Queen Pruniprissmea is missing her red hair, and is too pretty for her part. King Miraz is more crafty than bad-tempered, as he is in the book.
Edmund's electric torch is still present, and has a very important (and humorous) role in the movie. The torch still claims the last bit of attention in the movie.
"I left my new torch in Narnia!"
This movie, for all of its changes, was better than the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and is fun to watch. They managed to weave humor throughout the whole movie, taking away the fear and desperate feelings a child might have after watching a violent battle scene, and offering older people an almost comedy. I highly recommend it for families with, or without children.
2 comments:
We saw it yesterday as well!!
Courtney thought Lion, Witch,etc. was better as did I. Dave thought they were both good. We were happy that the famous Aslan line made it in: twice! And actually Prince Caspian is #4 chronologially although Lewis wrote it as #2...Dave thinks it is actually #3, but I learned in college that it is #4. Doesn't matter to us really, we love them all! And we think Disney did a very good job although I pictured Prince Caspian not so effeminate looking! Courtney also thought he'd be cuter! LOL
Claire thinks the boy who plays Edmond has changed the most. I had to remind her that it has been 3 years since the making of the first one! I am in process of posting some pics from it if ya wanna come visit!
Elle, you are so funny in your descriptions.
But I disagree to a certain extent concerning the drasticness of the changes. In fact, I think only the last section of the movie could have been done better. They handled the whole thing very well and they had to change some of it. You wouldn't want to watch them all just walking for a really long time...
:D
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