The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
© 05.29.08 By Elisa Williams

I was not overly impressed with the movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It was a neat, smooth, perfectly groomed copy of the book and flat as soda in the sun. The characters were without depth, a bit cheesy, and had little life.Beloved though the book is, the movie did not preserve the magic.


But enough about the first movie. Suffice to say it was uncomfortably loyal to the book, sacrificing ingenuity and spark. As Prince Caspian is my least favorite of the books, I had little hope for the movie.

The second novel brings back all four of the Pevensie children for a second go-around. For those who loved the first book, me included, it is a delight to see them all again since the four adventurers are split up for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, Prince Caspian does not brings back live characters. Left in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the Pevensie’s are no better defined by the end of the second book. They are nice characters, but not very interesting.

The story is really about Peter, though the it centers around Caspian’s plight. An annoying little chump who bumbles about, Caspian is both apologetic and pathetic. Perhaps his dull and irritating character is why Prince Caspian is at the bottom of my list. A quite, responsible and undefined Peter hops in and takes care of the problem, fighting a dangerous duel to set chump Caspian on the throne and then leaves.

Peter’s just too good. I mean, wouldn’t all of us feel a little put out being called up to enthrone an ineffectual fellow like Caspian to rule the very kingdom that was once your responsibility?

Susan, sweet as ever but without the benefit of further development, leaves the Chronicles forever without being truly introduced. You never really get to know Susan and then she’s gone. Lucy hasn’t changed. Edmond is really the only one who makes any progress in this book.

Since the greatest joy of a sequel is seeing the characters again, the development of those characters is essential. Interesting development. In my opinion, the book failed.

And so, imagine my surprise and pleasure when I discovered that the creators of the movie were taking a new approach. Unlike The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the movie Prince Caspian takes a huge step away from the book, making the movie more memorable than its predecessor only by virtue of that fact as the choreography and special effects are only improved enough from the last movie to go unnoticed. The rewritten characters make the movie. Without realizing it you come to like them, if only a little.

In an insightful introduction to Pevensie’s we are shown how the first trip to Narnia (reigning as kings and queens and growing into adults) affected the four siblings. A real and vital part the book left out.

Almost the first we see of the Pevensie children is a fight between Peter and several other boys in the subway station, a worried Lucy rushing to fetch an annoyed Susan. We find that such scuffles are a common occurrence,this one instigated by another boy bumping Peter and then trying to make him apologize.

"I’m tired of people treating us like we’re kids!" says Peter in frustration, after the fight is broken up and the children are alone.

"We are kids," Edmund replies.

"Well, I didn’t use to be."

What the movie Prince Caspian does for the Pevensie children is what any sequel should do for its characters: it continues to develop them in a real and engaging fashion.

With the new life infused in the characters, we get to know and like them. Peter becomes real as he struggles with having to give up being a king. Susan is happy to return to Narnia but hating the moment when she must leave and learn to live in her own world again. Edmund, having learned his lesson from last time, is sticking with his siblings even through Peter’s poor decisions. Lucy, faithful to Aslan but afraid to leave the others.

Returning as legends to land they once knew well, the Pevensie children are almost outsiders. With the Narnians but no longer part of them. I especially appreciated the contrast between Caspian with the Narnians and the four Pevensie children. It was a bitter sweet situation. They are a vital part of the history of Narnia but unreal to the present day Narnians. It isolated them into a force all their own. Susan adds strength to the foursome as she takes to the battle field to fight with the other Narnians, taking an active part in the story. Unlike the Susan of the book, who lacked depth, she has difficulties and worries of her own. She too struggles with the return to Narnia, regretting that it must end, almost wishing the second trip had never happened because now she’ll have to let go of Narnia all over again.

In the movie Peter reacts the way I always wondered why he didn’t in the book. After all, he is high king. Narnia is his kingdom. Ready to pick things up where they left off, he muscles his way in to the position of command. When Peter shows up and takes charge of the Narnian battle campaign, Caspian steps aside more out of respect for Peter’s reputation than anything else. But he has his own plans and after a time he Peter clash over conflicting interests.

Caspian is older than depicted in the book, a change that allowed him to form a true friendship with the Pevensie’s on equal terms. Instead of a meek little fellow, in awe of Peter and Edmond, Caspian is a prince, secure in his status though he is denied kingship and hunted by his murderous uncle. Instead of the immediate, polite acquaintance that never gets any deeper as in the book, Caspain’s friendship with the Pevensie children builds over time as he gets to know them as people and not just a piece of history.

The Pevensie siblings have more problems than they had in the book, many of them because of their own selfishness and pride. Even reconciled with Aslan, Peter will not forget that his arrogance cost Narnian’s their lives. There is an air of churned emotions about the Pevensie’s, an excellent capture of the conflict they find in their return. It may seem Caspian is a darker movie but if so it is also more real, building up for the last scene which is the most powerful in the movie.

We follow Susan, Peter, Edmund and Lucy through the porthole-from Narnia, a land of magic and epic battle where they are Kings and Queens, to a London train station; dim, noisy, school children cramming into the cars, war posters plastered on the walls. You feel their loss and the stark contrast between the two worlds; you can even sympathize with how Peter felt upon their first return. You wish you didn’t have to leave as well.