edmund lucy peter

I have a confession to make about what I suspect for many people is a childhood reading favorite.  I have never read any of the Chronicles of Narnia books.  Oh, I have a vague knowledge of the characters from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  For example, I know the four British schoolchildren, Aslan the talking lion and the white witch.  I also remember seeing a television production at some time or another, but I have yet to read any of the actual books themselves.  It wasn't as though I never had access to the books, because I know that my brother was very fond of the series and spoke highly of it many times.  Somehow I never found the time to spend some time with this world.

Despite an incomplete knowledge of Narnia, this did not stop me from seeing the latest movie version of Prince Caspian last night and generally speaking I enjoyed it.  Both the costumes and the scenery in the film were perfect.  I could not have imagined a better setting and or look for such a story.  There were times when the computer generated centaurs made me wince, but overall, it was visually pleasing.  I didn't have time to read all of the credits, but I was positive that none of the outdoor scenes were filmed in Britain, because glacial blue rivers do not exist there.  Then when I did get my answer online, I was not shocked to see that New Zealand was the true setting for the magical kingdom.

Sadly, as much as I enjoyed the scenery of the movie, I felt almost nothing for any of the characters and wonder if I am alone in this view.  As an adult, I knew long before the ending arrived that the four children would be victorious and am curious as to whether a younger viewer may not be as confident in such knowledge.  Maybe there is enough of a story there to pull them along.  I am uncertain if that is true or not.  So with the ending being more of a given for me then anything else, I was hoping that I would come to appreciate the children more than I did.  From my point of view, they just did what they did, because they felt that they had to do it.  Suddenly four average British schoolchildren were seen as kings and queens wielding swords and bows.  Part of me knows that this is standard stuff of fantasy, but at the same time, I felt as though I were being cheated.  Maybe the learning curve for them happens in the first book so any explanation of that transformation would be seen as repetitious?

Finally, I have to wonder if the makers of the movie were trying to compete on some level with the Lord of Rings impact in terms of combat sequences.  Both my wife and her friend felt the movie was mostly fighting with some talking animals mixed in here and there for comedic relief.