Prince Caspian - mini-review

I took my two oldest boys to see the latest Narnia installment: Prince Caspian the other night. I don't remember the book much, but my older son who had read it the most recently said they had key moments from the book like the duel, but he certainly didn't remember any ROMANCE. Well, my dear son, that kiss they put in for all the young girls, and their Moms! The movie is decent with great special effects, but what I loved by far was the prince himself, Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian. Hubba, hubba. The four kids who play the main characters of the Narnia books really don't have much personality to me. Nothing like the kids of the Harry Potter films. But Ben Barnes was worth the price of admission.

The film is chock full of battle scenes, that in the book get a brief mention. You have to have action in a film so they've fleshed them out nicely. There isn't a lot of anything else really there, aside from Prince Caspian's journey to overcome his feelings of revenge towards his uncle. I did thoroughly enjoy Peter Dinklage as Lucy's sour "dear little friend" and the voice of Eddie Izzard as a sword-fighting mouse.

I give this film three stars. Worth seeing on the big screen to beat the summer heat. Best thing about the next film in the Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader? More Prince, now KING Caspian played by Ben Barnes! It will be directed by Michael Apted and is due out in May of 2010. Hopefully with a director like Apted, this series can get better in the same way the Potter films have.