John and I enjoyed The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Sure, it had its plodding parts (boring, boring villains!), but its young actors have lost their obvious novice awkwardness and now comfortably reprise their roles. As more hardened warriors, the returning sibling rulers of Narnia figure in some breathtaking battle sequences. Darker, more atmospheric, and engaging, this sequel is one of the better popcorn epics of the summer. The story’s quite flimsy, but the expert handling of disparate aspects--mainly cutesy and horrific parts--diverts and keeps things from becoming truly bothersome. Take a bow, Andrew Adamson.
Surprisingly good stuff. It opens next week.
5 comments:
the makers of Prince Caspian kept to the original story surprisingly well... i heard they were going to make it into a silly pure-action flick, but thankfully this was not the case
Hmm I was very very disappointed though -___- Far FAR cry from the first one.. not even 1/4 of it's quality back then... unfortunately... is it showing in Pinas yet?
P
Patrick,
Hello, thanks for dropping by. Oh, that's good to know... not a fan of the books, but if the movie captured the original essence well as you say, then that's good.
:)
Hello Philip!
Thanks for sharing. Hmm, the first film was just... okay for me.
I dunno, wasn't expecting anything from the sequel, actually, but I found myself enjoying it more than, um, the latest Indiana Jones. :D
Anyway... my old published review of Narnia 1 below, in case you're interested. Thanks again. :)
‘Narnia’ a melting pot of universal themes
By Oliver M. Pulumbarit
Contributor
The colorful epic “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” based on C.S. Lewis’ first part in a series of popular fantasy books, finally gets its heavy-budgeted big screen treatment. But this new effects-drenched movie has big shoes to fill, as recently concluded fantastical franchises like “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” have left a huge void. The Disney release, however, is guaranteed a strong fan base, and is also being marketed to Christian viewers abroad.
“Narnia” does not didactically preach about Christian values or messages, but the allegories are there. The young characters are often and openly referred to as “sons and daughters of Adam and Eve,” but the film cannot and does not claim that the lightly imparted lessons are exclusively Christian. The tale of four English children, siblings sent to live far from the chaos of World War II, explores universal themes when they discover a closet that doubles as a magic portal to the awesome fairy tale terrains of Narnia. They get a stunning crash course on the concepts of courage, sacrifice, forgiveness, and after redundant bickerings, teamwork.
Narnia is a realm where they discover a black and white conflict between the ambitious White Witch (ever-classy Tilda Swinton) and the messiah metaphor Aslan (appropriately voiced by Liam Neeson). Aslan, the land’s lion king, if you will, shows everyone, like “resurrecting” film sages Obi-Wan Kenobi and Gandalf, that there is life after heroic death. “Narnia”, like the aforementioned fantasy films, drew inspiration from different ancient legends as well, combining creatures and beings from European and Asian mythologies (imagine giants, centaurs, a phoenix, a minotaur, werewolves, goblins and talking animals), which slug it out in one big, hodge-podge of a battleground. Heck, even Santa Claus makes a special appearance to inspire the kids early on!
While the secret world is derivative character-wise, “Shrek” director Andrew Adamson’s familiarity with making seemingly disparate elements coexist make this reality a surreal, fever dream-like mural. The story is simplistic and kid-friendly; actors William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley as the Pevensie siblings decently play brave and competent (if understandably volatile) youngsters. Swinton shines as the cardboard-y villain, and is as enticingly menacing as ever.
Despite its sometimes-languid pacing, “The Chronicles of Narnia” has sweeping, computer-rendered trickeries working for it, making it a cool, candy-coated place to revisit. It’s nowhere near as magical or engaging as the mythical fantasy worlds that preceded it (yes, the comparisons are inevitable), but it’s still a welcome, escapist “new” world.
Oh, and it opens next week, I think. :)
Post a Comment