I took the kids to see Prince Caspian last night. I am a HUGE fan of the Chronicles of Narnia and have read them all tons of times. I know much of them by heart. I will also admit that, while still a good book, Prince Caspian is my least favorite. In spite of that, I was really looking forward to the movie.
For all I know, the movie may well have been great. Unfortunately, it had so many deviations from the book that I was distracted almost from the beginning. I kept waiting for some of my favorite parts from the book, but many of them had been cut. The movie took substantial liberties with the plot and those were so disconcerting that I found I wasn't watching the movie at all, but was waiting for it to rejoin the real version of the story.
It was the movie equivalent of getting lost while driving, but having a GPS device in your car. You knew you would reach your destination, it was just a lot of work to get there.
The acting and the special effects were great. The kids playing the lead roles were wonderful. The script struggled to keep some of the better dialog from the book, but again, I can't tell if I didn't connect as well as I could have because of the movie or because of my own expectations.
I came to the conclusion this morning that I need to see the movie again. This time, I'll have a chance to watch it for what it is and not sit there waiting for the movie to rejoin the book. If you haven't read the book or it's been long enough that you don't remember it, then I think you'll really enjoy it. The character development was well done and believable. The battle scenes were great and the movie kept you in suspense most of the time.
After watching this promo on YouTube, I know I need to see it again.
Update: Our buddy Josh gives it 3 out of 4 stars. You can read his review here.
So what did you kids think?
ReplyDeleteThey both liked it. My daughter thought the book was better and my son thought it was a little corny, but they still liked it.
ReplyDeletePrince Caspian was probably the most childish of the seven books. Had they been completely faithful to the storyline, it might not have been a better picture. The people making this series are clearly top flight pros, so I'm not inclined to argue with the way they built the movie. It was just disconcerting to see the movie diverge so quickly and so dramatically.
I always find it disappointing when a movie is SO different than the book. It's always a let down for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen the first one came out, we all re-read the book. And were not disappointed. This one, we didn't get around to re-reading PC before the movie.
ReplyDeleteAnd we really liked it. Josh has a good review on his website. I think it was better to not know.
It brings me back to Princess Bride. I hated it the first time, because they didn't have the 7 traps to get to the dungeon. My favorite chapter. But over the years, I've come to really like the movie
It's always hard to make a movie from a book/series.
ReplyDeleteGolden Compass got alot of criticism. I hadn't read the book(s) and I thought the movie was really good. I read all three books afterwards, and don't see how they could have fully captured the complexities of the book.
Dune, one of my favorite books - hated the movie. Absolutely hated it.
Haven't seen Prince Caspian yet. Kids wanna go this weekend.
It's been years since I've read the Narnia books (although I do have a nice shiny hardcover edition just calling out to me). IIRC, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe movie was pretty faithful to the book. That may have been because Douglas Gresham, Lewis's stepson got a co-producer credit--he probably wouldn't sign off on anything that took gross liberties with the original story. Do you remember if he was involved with this one? If he wasn't, that could explain why this movie fudged with the story a lot more.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've heard that the movie's producers are being a little evasive about the books' Christian themes. The filmmakers don't want to alienate Christians who love the books, but they don't want to be perceived as preaching Christianity. God knows we can't have that right? :)
Movie makers don't seem to be constrained by the story in the book, and they shouldn't have to be. These days writing a book is interesting but not important, it is sort of like climbing mount Everest with Oxygen bottles... sure only a few people can do it but only a few people care.
ReplyDeleteMovies today are important, in today's culture if you get a movie, its a big deal.
Personally, as I have gotten older, I like the written word better, because you can explore a complete thought, and if your good you can even convey it to your audience.
the makers of Prince Caspian kept to the original story in some ways and strayed in others... i heard they were going to make it into a silly pure-action flick, but thankfully this was not the case
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