When Queen Prunaprismia (Alicia Borrachero) delivers a baby boy, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) orders his soldiers to kill Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes); however his tutor gives Susan's magic horn to him telling that he should blow is his life is in danger and asks him to ride to the forest. However he is chased by the Telmarian soldiers and he summons the Pevensie siblings. They discover that hundred of years have passed in Narnia and they join Prince Caspian to lead the people of Narnia against the evil King Miraz. When the battle begins, the siblings send Lucy to seek out Aslan, otherwise they will not win the powerful Telmarian army.

I expected to like "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" more than I did. The special effects are top-notch, but the story has a poor development of characters and the unoriginal final battle gives a sensation of déjà vu to the viewer with the excessive use of CGI. But the greatest problem is the weak lead cast: the four siblings and Prince Caspian are performed by the wooden and unknown young actors and actresses that are too weak for the lead roles. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Crônicas de Nárnia – Príncipe Caspian" ("The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian")

In this sequel to THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, the four children begin the story one year later back in Britain. However, they are summoned back to Narnia and they are shocked at what awaits them. Centuries have passed and most of the mythical creatures seem to have vanished--replaced by greedy humans bent on their destruction. So it's up to the kids as the returned kings and queens of Narnia to make things right.

Visually, this is a truly amazing movie. While the last film in this series was a sight to see, this next installment is even better--with amazing CG creatures and a battle that is quite thrilling. However, once you look beyond the amazing special effects, what you are left with is only rather ordinary--mostly due to rather one-dimensional characterizations. Instead of real people or mythical characters, most of what you see in the film seems to lack any sort of back story or depth--they are just there. Some won't mind this and will simply sit back and enjoy the eye candy (and it is impressive--you certainly can't deny that). People like myself who love characters and story will be a bit less impressed. Additionally, while the general tone of the C.S. Lewis story is intact, there have been a few changes--such as a rather difficult to believe romance (it seems to come out of no where).

Despite all my negative comments above, do NOT take this to mean I disliked the movie. It's just that is clearly could have been better plus I really wish there had been more story to it than just one battle after another with slow-motion clips abounding during the fighting. For teens, this is probably a good film and worth seeing with their friends--they'll most likely love all the action and cute characters (though there are far less here than in the more child-oriented predecessor). Plus parents don't need to worry about them seeing it--the message is good and there is inexplicably almost no blood in the film. For the more adult audience, they may just want to wait until this one comes out on DVD.

By the way, although there is no indication how long the kids were gone from Narnia between the two films (and they refer to it as "many centuries"),at the very end Susan says it's been 1300 years. Where this number came from is anyone's guess and there is no explanation for where she suddenly gets this number. I think there is a dangling plot element Disney forgot to take care of and it left me confused.

As a little girl, I adored the Chronicles of Narnia books, and I still do. I also liked the BBC adaptations, done in mini-series format, they weren't amazing, but they were enjoyable and stuck to the books' spirit. As far as these film versions go, I haven't yet seen Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but I enjoyed Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Prince Caspian was not a bad film, but it could have been better.

Visually, the film is very well done. I loved the cinematography, while the scenery and costumes are gorgeous. The effects are also good, and Aslan still looks brilliant. The music is beautiful too, with lovely melodies. The end credits song was nice, but I think it should have stayed as an end credits song, it didn't seem right placing it in the final scene to me. The direction is decent too, while the battle sequences are riveting, and the film did begin well.

As far as the acting goes, it wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either. The best are Eddie Izzard who is spot on, Peter Dinklage who comes close to stealing the film with his eyes alone and Liam Neeson who lends his majestic voice to Aslan, and while her appearance is very brief Tilda Swinton is quite chilling. The four leads are good enough, and in Georgie Henley's case improved. Edmund also has potential. I had mixed feelings on Miraz though, more to how he was written than how he was acted. Sergio Castellitto does make an effort to make Miraz dark and charismatic for the villain of the piece, but the way Miraz is written and developed makes him come across as insipid. The weak link is Ben Barnes. He is handsome and has his moments, but he is rather bland on the whole.

My real problems with Prince Caspian are in the storytelling and pace mainly. The story has a tendency to become too unengaging, the more involving scenes are well done but the slower scenes are close to ponderous. The pace is rather lethargic this time round, while I don't think the film really needed to be as long as it was and the characters come across as shallow. Also particularly with Caspian and Miraz, some of the dialogue is stilted.

All in all, Prince Caspian is not a bad film, but it lacked something. I also forgot to say as an adaptation of the book it is not great, granted the book was not my favourite of the series but I felt sometimes there was a bit too much padding that could have been excised slightly. A disappointment, but on its own terms and for the visuals and music it is worth a look. 6/10 Bethany Cox