msmoon | The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian (Reply)

…le sigh.

Ok, so I've had some time to think stew about The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian. I've calmed down enough to look at things objectivly...so, here's my two cents worth. The movie wasn’t…that bad...I suppose. I didn’t enjoy it very much until about …well, the end.

Reepicheep: Most hard core book fans will not be surprised that the best part of the whole movie…would be Reepicheep. And many thanks to Eddie Izzard for his marvelous performance. Actually, if I didn’t know that Eddie Izzard was voicing Reep, I might’ve thought “Hmm…my favorite character sometimes sounds like my favorite comedian...huh. Curious...” Then I would’ve gone home and been genki/squee to find that they were one in the same. But really, I was so pleased to see him any time (except when he was on the stretcher ;_;), it was almost like being a kid all over again. I can’t wait to see him in VotDT.

Lucy: ...I love Lu...I really do (I'm a poet, and didn't know it!). I have to say that PC was the book in which she had to endure a lot of things that I truly disliked. But now there’s a lot more guilt heaped onto her from the “what could’ve been” thing. I love her faith in Aslan, and essentially she was pushed-over by her elder siblings by not going to Aslan; but still…Don’t get me wrong, I still love Lu. I just don’t like that they changed so much of her going to Aslan. It didn't quite make as much sense as it could have if they'd just kept to the book (as with most things they did).

Edmund: I love Ed more and more...which is the same feelings I had while reading the books. At first, I didn’t like him overly much, neither as the betrayer or the redeemed…but after a while, he just grew on me. And let’s face it…Skandar is so cute...And since he was redeemed by Aslan, he really does step up. The movie shows his cleverness and decisiveness as well as his loyalty to his siblings (jumping into the fray with Arse-Peter even though he has no idea what started the fight). I love that he was the only male in the room to be immune to the White Witch, and dispatched her quickly instead of dallying around with the idea like the other two. This obviously shows how much he has learned and grown from his experiences. Much like Lucy, I just like him ^..^

Midnight Siege @ Miraz’s Castle: ….hated. Absolutely hated. Why? There were so many things wrong with this...Of course, those of us who’ve read the book know how anything that deviates from plot like this will end (there will be blood, carange and angst etc.). But there were so many little things that just landed one big ‘WTF?!’ Ok, so why was Edmund on the tower and Susan running about with Caspian and Peter? That doesn’t make any sense! You can’t convince me that Edmund was so possessive of that flashlight that he wouldn’t let Susan give the signals. Also, Susan is a ranged fighter (if she even fights at all, which from what I remember, she prefers not to…damn, I’m running-on!) and Ed is a great combatant, so he’d be more useful, as opposed to Susan who had to resort to whacking people with the ends of her bow in order to do any one-on-one fighting. I also think that it was an unnecessary loss; one of those things that a movie does to make a story seem more heavy. Like they kill people off when they don’t have to just to make it seem more important that the objective is achieved.

Peter: ……….oh, come on! Did you have to turn him into such an ass? Not only is he a prick in the first part of the movie with a seriously royal attitude in a teenager’s body (actually, that’s just being a teenager probably, since I know ordinary teens that act like that…entitled little brats), but then he was all pig-headed and bumbled an attack and then came down on Caspian...someone, call a proctologist! Now! …Peter could’ve looked like enough of an ass by leading them around and getting them lost and putting them in danger, without the battle and the bickering with Caspian and the whole Witch thing! More on that later though...I’m bitching about Peter now. Seriously, Peter managed to make himself more annoying than Susan...and that’s not the PC experience I remember.

Susan: ...Aside from the whole Caspian thing…I actually enjoyed Susan in this. She was more “I understand that I’m not quite right, and I’m not sure what needs to be done to change that, but I’ve accepted never being a Queen again and am trying to adjust to normal life.” Which is much more than I could say for Peter. Book Susan was more “/whine. I don’t wanna be here! This is so miserable! I’m miserable and everyone else will be too!”....So, she wasn’t the same Susan from the book, admittedly, but if we had had Peter being a dumbass and Susan being all whiny and engh/shudder. then it would’ve been too much.

Suspian: ….WHAT!? NO!!!! Zomg! No, please, yes, thanks for the effort but, nooooo. Ramandu's daughter anyone? Much better alternative. Yes, thanks….sure, she doesn’t really have a name, so much as a title, but still. A better alternative. /cringes from the idea of what the fangirls will do with this.

Caspian: /sigh. I enjoy an easy-on-the-eyes, brooding, angsty boy as much as the next girl…but I really feel like I didn’t see Caspian at all in this movie...for one thing, they seemed to leave out all the stuff his tutor taught him about old Narnians, because he seemed more frightened of them than the awe he gave off in the book. I really look forward to seeing him more in the next edition, if only because I think the character will have come more into his own. He did seem to respect Peter as the High King, but the fact that Peter was being an ass and didn’t respect him back really made things strained. That didn’t help much with seeing more of Caspian-being-Caspian as opposed to the Emo-Caspian we were treated with =..=

Trumpkin: I like Peter Dinklage…but, I honestly didn’t recognize Trumpkin as him. His voice was different and his manner was different…The Book-Trumpkin is more…what’s the word…he’s sarcastic and witty, but in an upbeat way. Peter played him in a more sarcastic-serious way, which is great for the mood. If he’d been all energetic, I might not’ve believed that they’d been in hiding and at war for centuries. I liked this Trumpkin, I just wish we would’ve heard more from him. I loved his attachment to Lucy and their hug at the end there. That was sweet!

Jadis: Hmmm….wow. Ok, so the summoning thing for her was..um…yeah. I dunno. First off, the Werewolf was awesome, but I’m biased because I love Werewolves. The hag…I thought hags were supposed to be mostly human looking only more exaggerated-old-crone look...so I’m not crazy about the Hag look, but the way she was played was alright I suppose. Not crazy about the chanting and all...And Jadis’s ability to mesmerize all the males in the room really was a throwback to her in Magician’s Nephew. I just love Tilda Swinton as her too. She really does the part well.

I suppose, after watching the movie, I was left with the same question most book fans were: Where in the world is George Gresham? As C.S. Lewis’s step-son, isn’t he supposed to be our advocate? I mean...when they go too far away from the books, he’s supposed to “just say no” right? Has anyone seen him lately? If so, I’m beginning to think someone’s been spiking his food...

I’m going to stop now…not because there’s nothing more to say, but because...I can’t bear to say any more. I really love the books, so I will be buying the special edition movie when it comes out...but, this will not be my favorite adaptation. Please, do better next time, Disney. Kthxbye.