Friday's Featured Film - 6/12/09

New movies are usually released to theaters every Friday, but who’s got 10 bucks these days to drop on a movie that may well be a load of crap? Given those odds, each Friday I offer an alternative on DVD that you can rent at your local video store (or in some cases, avoid at all costs). Some will be new releases, others you may have to hunt for, but all of them are available to light up your small screen should it be a lazy Friday night.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Back in 2005, I was thrilled when director Andrew Adamson (Shrek) filmed a tremendous adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s classic The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The film was one of the most faithful book-to-film adaptations I’d ever seen, and a great movie. Last year, the second film in the Narnia series, Prince Caspian, was released. Heather and I never made it to the theater to see it, but we caught up with it last week on Blu-ray, and while it wasn’t as good as the first (and to be honest, the source material isn’t as good either), it was still an entertaining entry in the series.

Caspian, which is actually the fourth book in Lewis’ Chronicles (Lion is actually #2), picks up with the Pevensie kids (Williams Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley) back in London and having trouble readjusting to life as schoolkids after their long lives as kings and queens in Narnia. Suddenly, they are summoned back to Narnia, only to find that well over a thousand years have passed in the magical land. Their castle lies in ruins, a foreign power has invaded and occupied the land, and the rightful heir to the throne, Prince Caspian X (Ben Barnes) is on the run from his ruthless uncle, Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). After discovering exiled Narnian creatures hiding in the forest, Caspian joins with them and summons the Pevensies back to the land, seeking to overthrow their oppressors and return Narnia to peace. Together, they seek the long-absent Aslan and fight for the future of Narnia.

The movie is a little slow out of the gate, with the story taking a while longer to get rolling than it did in Lion. Part of this is due to the fact that Caspian is hardly the strongest Lewis novel (it was chosen for the second film because of the required age of the kid actors), and I imagine it took a fair amount of work to adapt the screenplay into something that played well onscreen. Once all the characters come together, though, the film finds its stride and its second half is noticeably stronger than its first. I had heard a lot of buzz going in about the drastic changes made to the story for the film, but I must say, I didn’t find anything that was so out of spirit with the book that it negatively affected the movie for me. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Caspian is hardly my favorite Narnia tale, so I don’t mind seeing a couple tweaks here or there. The action scenes were well shot, and it’s apparent that Adamson feels more comfortable in the director’s chair in his second outing than he did for his first. The cast is serviceable, but nobody (including Barnes in the titular role) turns in a performance that you’ll remember down the road. As for the film’s allegorical power, those looking for the vivid Christian imagery of the first film will still find it here, though it’s not nearly as prevalent. In the end, this is a good film but it’s not one that I think I’ll have the desire to re-watch quite as much as Lion. Adamson and company took one of Lewis’ weaker offerings and made a film that, while not great, is a decent entry in the series and paves the way for new director Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough, Amazing Grace) to take the reigns for the next installment (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). If you haven’t already, give Caspian a rental. It’s well worth the time. - *** (out of 4)

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is rated PG for epic battle action and violence.

Friday's Featured Film - 5/16/08

New movies are usually released to theaters every Friday, but who’s got 10 bucks these days to drop on a movie that may well be a load of crap? Given those odds, each Friday I offer an alternative on DVD that you can rent at your local video store (or in some cases, avoid at all costs). Some will be new releases, others you may have to hunt for, but all of them are available to light up your small screen should it be a lazy Friday night.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Today, Prince Caspian - the second film based on C.S. Lewis’ classic The Chronicles of Narnia, hits theaters. So, my selection for this week’s “Friday’s Featured Film” was pretty easy. If you haven’t seen The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first film in the series, do yourself a favor and rent Andrew Adamson’s near flawless adaptation of the classic book.

The film, like the book, is set in WWII England and focuses on the Pevensie siblings – Peter (William Moseley), the oldest who dreams of joining his father in the army though he’s only seventeen, Susan (Anna Popplewell), the very bright and logical eldest daughter, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) the snide rebel of the bunch, and Lucy (Georgie Henley), the wide eyed, innocent, and sensitive youngest child. In the midst of the relentless bombing of London, their mother sends them away to board with an old professor (Jim Broadbent) in the countryside to be safe until the war ends. Once there, however, a game of hide-and-seek sends them through a magical wardrobe and into the land of Narnia – a land of fantastical creatures and talking animals that is ruled with an iron and icy fist by the White Witch, Jadis (Tilda Swinton). After befriending a faun named Tumnus (James McAvoy), the kids find that they may be long prophesied heroes who will join with the exiled king, a lion named Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson), to free Narnia from endless winter and usher in an age of freedom.

As book-to-screen adaptations go, I think that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe may well be the best I have ever seen. The Lord of the Rings movies may well be better films, but I believe that Lion better represents the spirit and content of its source material. If you (like me) read this book as a kid (or even as an adult), what you see on screen will be what you remember reading, with very little deviation. The length of the book (just over 100 pages) means that not a lot gets left on the cutting room floor, and Adamson (who helmed the Shrek series) keeps the sense of wonder and whimsy that is such an integral part of Lewis’ writing. If there’s one thing that gets lost in translation, it’s Aslan – not because the filmmakers did a poor job of bringing him to the screen (quite the opposite, actually), but because perhaps the only canvas big enough to paint him on is the one in the mind of the reader.

The Christian subtext of the films is no secret by now. Lewis wrote his Chronicles expressly as an allegory of the Christian faith. The similarities between Aslan and Christ are not easy to miss. Personally, I don’t really care for allegory. I find it too dense and heavy handed most of the time (don’t shoot me, but I think I’m one of the three reformed Christians on the planet who doesn’t care for Pilgrim’s Progress). However, for whatever reason (perhaps because of the fond childhood memories I have of the books), I absolutely love the Narnia allegory. There’s a simple power and beauty to the narrative and the film carries that over extremely well. On the whole, I probably prefer Tolkien’s (who, though a close friend of Lewis and his spiritual mentor, didn’t much care for Narnia’s allegory) mythology to Lewis’ but everything that is so simple and pure with the story of Aslan and the White Witch is brought beautifully to life on the screen by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Tilda Swinton turns in a fantastic performance as the White Witch. During the crucial events at The Stone Table, she communicates the sick ecstatic joy of the Witch with amazing subtlety. The kids are good enough to make you largely forget that they’re child actors, and Harry Gregson-Williams (whose previous credits include the Shrek films and the Metal Gear Solid series of video games) adds a powerful and absolutely gorgeous musical score. If you’ve never ventured through the wardrobe and into Narnia, go pick this one up this weekend (and get a hold of Lewis’ books as well – they’re quick and delightful reads), and here’s hoping that Caspian will not disappoint as a sequel. - **** (out of four)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is rated PG for battle sequences and frightening moments.