The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian – 3 Disc
Set (Disney Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: C+
The world
of C.S. Lewis returns to Disney Blu-ray with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The children from the first film (Peter,
Susan, Lucy, and Edmund) have been growing tired of the boring drab existence
of Wartime London and wish to return to the land that made them powerful Kings
and Queens. Well there wish is about to
come true…
After a
brief introduction, the children are flung headfirst back to the world of
Narnia where 1,300 years have passed and the world is a very different
place. The creatures of Narnia are now
in hiding and the once magical world is run under the iron fist of man who has
done all but wipe the lands clean of each mystic creature. Concurrently there is an evil plot by King
Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) to murder his young nephew prince (Prince Caspian
played by Ben Barnes) who would soon be king when he comes of age. Prince Caspian goes on the run and as fate
should have it eventually has a run in with the other children. The children, Caspian, and a band of Narnians
join together to restore the land to its former greatness and mystical wonder;
but it will not be as easy as the last time around. The children may be older and wiser, but
Narnia has become a much darker land. No
longer are the creatures willing to chitchat and speak openly. The land has fallen into a state of disarray,
where violent action speaks louder than words.
Narnia has transformed and there is no telling if peace can ever be
found again.
The film
is certainly darker and the sense of wonder that the characters displayed in
the first film is all but gone. They are
experienced and know what has to be done; completely changing the tone of the
film.
The
action of Prince Caspian is much
better than its predecessor in many senses.
It is more organized, more exciting, and flow better overall with the
storyline; in the end making for a concise and consistent tale. The main problem of the film, however, is
that it seems that nothing had ever happened beginning to end. Sure the kids were older, Narnia has changed
into a state of mourning, and Disney pumped out millions more to make it seem epic;
but in reality from the beginning of film to the end the viewer will question
if anything really happened. The story
is weak partly due to the writers and director not producing a great script and
the other part has always been in the hands of C.S. Lewis himself. The fact of the matter is Prince Caspian is just not as good of a
book as The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe. On top of that, if you
strip out Lewis’s intended religious undertone (which is even more apparent in
the later tales), the story will certainly be watered down and fall apart. Prince
Caspian was fun to watch, had great battle sequences, wonderful CGI, and
was an overall stunning visual experience; but left much to be desired in terms
of depth and storyline.
Whereas
the film may not have been as epic or exhilarating as literary aficionados may
have liked concerning content, the technical features are well worth the
experience. The picture is presented in
a 2.40 X 1 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 High Definition that is stunning to look at throughout. The colors are glowingly vibrant, the blacks
are deep, every detail shines through, and the flesh tones are spot on. The main problem with the picture happens in
the darker nighttime sequences (which happen often in this film) where it
becomes difficult to see through the dark blacks and blues and the whole visual
experience becomes confusing. The only
other complaint this reviewer could find was an at times soft image and a CGI
presentation that looked less than realistic; but those instances are far and
few in between. It is a darker Narnia for sure. The sound is equally nice in its English 7.1
DTS-HD Master Audio (48 KHz/24-bit) presentation as it ‘booms’ from the
speakers without being overly chaotic from the clashing of swords or screaming
of warriors. The dialogue is crisp and
clear in even the heaviest battle sequence and the mix all together does a fine
job of making every detail ‘pop’ by utilizing the full speaker spectrum. The directionality of the speakers in
amazingly nice and as the sound pans across the speakers it seems as if a real
horse (or centaur) could be running through your house.
The
extras are plentiful and hold a nice rewatchable quality. The special features include Bloopers,
Deleted Scenes, and a ton of featurettes.
The featurettes are Inside Narnia:
The Adventure Returns, Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life, Big Movie Comes
to a Small Town, Previsualizing Narnia, Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The
Magical World of Narnia, Secrets of the Duel, Becoming Trumpkin, Warwick Davis:
The Man Behind Nikabrik (all on Disc-2).
As you can see there is a ton of material to sift through, but that’s
not all! There are also Blu-ray
exclusive features such as Circle-Vision
Interactive: Creating the Castle Raid, BD Live, and an excellent Audio Commentary with Director Andrew
Adamson and Actors. The Circle-Vision Interactive offers the
viewer the chance to look at 10 behind the scene features with audio
commentaries that highlight the best action sequence in the entire film. The extras overall are plentiful and nicely
presented; at no point do the extras seem to drag because they are all broken
down into nice subcategories for the viewer to pick and chose from at their
leisure. Fine work on the technicals
Disney!
It is
hard to say if the film is totally worthwhile; but the film series must be
looked at on the whole. That is to say
that there certainly will be further installments for this Narnia epic and the later books are a bit better than Prince Caspian. It is hard to make a great movie out of an
‘ok’ book, but Adamson and Disney did their best and the film is entertaining
to say the least.
For more
on the first Narnia film, try these
links:
The Lion, The Witch & The
Wardrobe Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6951/The+Chronicles+Of+Narnia:+The+Lion
4 DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4830/Narnia:+The+Lion,+The+Witch
- Michael P. Dougherty II
