The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

review by Caitlyn Stark
Rated PG

How many times have we not been able to wait on the perfect timing of the One who loves us? Cinemagogue reviewer Aaron Webb had another perspective on Prince Caspian, but family film reviewer Caitlyn Stark provides her own thoughts:

Prince Caspian is set one year after the Pevensie children stumble upon the land of Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but it’s 1300 years later in Narnian time. In World War 2 England, the children are all coping with living in in the modern world in different ways: Lucy (Georgie Henley) is ever hopeful to return to Narnia; Edmond (Skander Keynes) still believes, yet is comfortable living back home; Susan (Anna Popplewell) is beginning to doubt, trying to move forward in England by pushing Narnia out of her head; but Peter (William Moseley) is having the hardest time, struggling to be a teenager boy again after being High King of Narnia for years.

Meanwhile, Caspian (Ben Barnes) is a young prince of the Telmarines whose uncle is coveting his throne. After his aunt gives birth to a son, Caspian flees for his life and ends up in the forest where he is taken in by Narnians, thought by the Telmarines to be extinct. The Narnians see how Caspian can save them from the oppression they have been living under for generations, and pledge their swords and their lives to fight for Caspian’s crown. Inadvertently, Caspian is able to find a way to pull the Pevensie children back into Narnia. When the Pevensies realize that they have returned to Narnia, they meet Trumpkin, a dwarf who watched Caspian blow the horn, they set out to meet up with Caspian. On the way, they discover that Narnia is a much different place then when they left: the Narnians are in hiding, animals who could once talk have forgotten how, and the trees who used to dance, have retreated into themselves, now standing still. The children soon make it to Caspian and they all prepare to fight the Telmarines for the freedom of Narnia.

Time and impatience have taken their toll on Peter, setting up one of the deeper spiritual explorations in the film. When Peter is back in Narnia, he is once more “High King, Peter the Magnificent”. But in the last year of trying to be a king in a teenager’s body, he has been doing things under his own power… because, after all, he is High King no matter how old his body is. Worse, he has slowly begun to believe that it was he who was the strong one in Narnia… that it was Peter who got things done, so while planning an attack on the Telmarines he lets everyone know that he is back. Lucy, the youngest, with the strongest and child-like faith of the siblings, speaks up and asks Peter if he “forgot who really defeated the White Witch.” Peter’s arrogant response downplays their true savior, while upselling his own prowess. His pride is identical to our own answers in so many situations as he proclaims: “I think we’ve waited for Aslan long enough.”

How many times have we not been able to wait on the perfect timing of the One who loves us? Aslan knew everything that was going on, but Peter wanted to be High King and show everyone that he was the same man who once ruled in Narnia. All too often I know that God has everything under control and, even though “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28), I still do things under my own power, to show that I am strong and can get the job done. As the movie progresses, Peter eventually begins to realize what the apostle Paul realized in 2 Corinthians 12: “when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Prince Caspian is an amazing movie that everyone should see. There are a few scary parts that may frighten some of the younger kids, and while the battles in movies like The Lord of the Rings make Prince Caspian look like a tricycle sitting next to a Harley, it is more violent than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is well crafted, and while it doesn’t follow the book as closely as the first one, I think it is true to C.S. Lewis’ book and I can’t wait for the next movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!