CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 5/16/08

An Improved Wardrobe

By david michael wharton

The Pevensies return to Narnia a second time in Prince Caspian, entering into a darker story that proves that this franchise has matured in more ways than just growth spurts for the cast.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Screenplay by Andrew Adamson & Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Based on the book by C.S. Lewis

While the Pevensie children have only been away from Narnia for a year, much has changed during the 1,300 years that have gone by in that magical land. The golden age that Peter (William Mosely), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) ruled over as kings and queens after the defeat of the White Witch (Tilda Swinton) is all but forgotten. Now, Narnia is ground under the heel of the oppressive conquering Telmarines, lead by the ruthless Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). The Pevensies are called back to Narnia in its darkest hour by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), the son of the former Telmarine king who now finds himself the target of Miraz's murderous intent. The kids find their former fairy-tale realm a place of ruins and oppression, with the mystical lion king Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) seemingly haven abandoned his favored realm. Together with the returned Pevensies, Caspian must unite with the scattered remnants of Narnia's magical population to overthrow Miraz and return freedom to the far side of the wardrobe.

While a fairly faithful adaptation of C.S. Lewis' beloved children's classic, 2005's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was very uneven. The first Narnia film was unfocused and episodic, with the Pevensies running back and forth through the magical wardrobe that first led them to Narnia, working through the mandatory arc of "There's no such thing as Narnia/Holy crap, we're in Narnia/Uh oh, now we have to save Narnia," and then culminating in a not particularly epic battle sequence that felt like more of an attempt to ape that other fantasy franchise than an organic conclusion to the storyline. Prince Caspian is much more streamlined and polished, with a clear goal from the start, more mature and satisfying subject matter, and a couple of battles that actually do border on the epic (as measured by the standard "Helm's Deep Scale"). And while the film does suffer like the first one from a big, furry dose of deus ex machina in the form of Aslan, the lion king (no, not that one) is absent for much of the film, which both forces the characters to suffer the consequences of their decisions and allows for some meditation on the nature of growing up and losing faith.

There's a lot more going on in Prince Caspian than the simple childlike wonder of the first film, and while that outing had its own vein of darkness running through it, what with Aslan being sacrificially murdered and all, that darkness is ramped up considerably here. The stakes are higher, and the threat of war in the air feels much more ominous than the tacked-on squabble that closed out the first film. Unlike the White Witch, Miraz's goals are not tangled up in arbitrary fantasy tropes such as a perpetual winter: Miraz wants power, and he wants to kill anyone who stands in the way of its acquisition. There is no cozy metaphor to shield us from the reality that the greatest evils of the world are done not by wily witches or monsters under the bed, but by men and women who somewhere along the way began placing their own desires above their compassion for others.

Nor is the film's newfound maturity limited to a more human antagonist. While newcomers such as Caspian, dour dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), and swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep (v. Eddie Izzard) each get enough of the limelight to shine, the film's most compelling arc is that of Peter. He is introduced fighting amongst schoolboys in a subway station, and we soon learn that the transition from being thirty-something kings and queens of Narnia back to teenagers has not been an easy one, but has weighed the most heavily on Peter. All of the children are struck with guilt upon learning the fate of Narnia after their departure, but Peter compensates for that with a determination to fix everything, and a confidence that he knows best how to go about it. He butts heads with rival Caspian, dismisses the advice of his siblings, and wants nothing to do with the AWOL Aslan, whom Peter believes has abandoned Narnia in its time of need. As Peter sees the price his stubbornness costs the Narnians who follow him, his existential crisis becomes all too familiar to anyone who has ever had to grow up and realize that world that once seemed so magical and innocent is becoming ever more plagued by shades of gray and no easy answers.

While the first film succeeded as a children's movie, Prince Caspian graduates to a full-fledged family film, showing us a Narnia that might be more complicated and frightening than our childlike eyes might remember, but which is all the more compelling for it.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated PG; 140 min.

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David Michael Wharton is managing editor of CS Weekly and a contributing editor of Creative Screenwriting Magazine. He's never traveled to Narnia through a magical wardrobe, but he did once travel to Duluth inside a footlocker that smelled of stale beer.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian courtesy Walt Disney Pictures

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