And.... a swing and a miss....

[sepdet]

Ugh.

First impression of Prince Caspian... I don't think I've spoiled anything here because I'm being deliberately vague, but...

Prince Caspian has a big fat pile of BAD FANFIC in the middle of it. The bit at Miraz Castle is dramatic, exciting, dark, vivid, moving, and WRONG FOR THE STORY.

I realize that Prince Caspian is one of the weakest books, with the least amount of plot, so there's an overwhelming temptation to beef it up a bit.

One of the big problems any director runs into with that plot is the rather weak "they've gotten too old" business. Another being the very unsatisfactory treatment of Susan. So I will forgive changes that attempt to make those more plausible, or at least more nuanced.

And admittedly, C.S. Lewis has this annoying habit of having a Designated Asshat in each story, but I don't like this film adaptation tendency to make characters into prize asses when they're not, and introduce conflicts between characters that didn't exist in the original book. (Elrond's "Men... men are weak!" still bugs me.)

Finally, this movie like so many nowadays capitulates to We Can Do Anything With CGI Now, So We're Going To Play With Graphics! syndrome. The last one was a little better at remembering that graphics are in service to the story. For example, I loved the way the first movie very briefly and graphically explained the Blitz to those who don't know WWII history, in order to explain why the children were evacuated to the country. The second movie is FX, FX, FX, battle, battle, battle, FX.

Portions of it were excellent. Very memorable moments. A scene with Lucy standing next to Aslan that's almost worth the price of the admission. But... I think I'd give it a 4, on a scale of 1 to 10.

Oh and. *ACTUAL SPOILER*

*

*

*
Hahaha, I point and laugh. They were afraid to dramatize the Bacchanalia. I suppose the Reading Rainbow version didn't show it either, but they had the Frolicking With Fauns sequence, and with their thimble-sized FX budget and only an hour for the whole story, they finished the story with a rather hasty "And then the trees show up and the Telmarines run away, THE END."

Comments

[firerosearien.livejournal.com]

Baseball metaphors....pain...oh the pain....

[sepdet.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me, I am missing a GAME.

GAH.

I so desperately need to tune in and watch Andruw Jones strike out.

[daffodileithil.livejournal.com]

*carefully skips the actual spoiler bit* For some insane reason they're releasing it in the UK a month later than in the US. We hates them, we does.

I guess after getting our hopes up with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it was too much to hope for that they'd get the next one right too (Two Towers, anyone?)...which is a pity, because I always really liked Prince Caspian. Ah well. Pretty shots of Aslan are always a good start :)

[aerynvale.livejournal.com]

"Men... men are weak!"

"That's why they're all over the goddamn place! Let's blow this taco stand and go into the West."

I haven't seen Prince Caspian yet, but somehow I had a feeling it'd just be a weaker, flashier movie than the first one. I'll probably still see it anyway. Or else see Iron Man again. c.c

[trekqueen.livejournal.com]

hmmm, curious about the bad fanfic part. I can understand what you mean about the building up of it to make it work out in a movie... but the point is to keep the film true to the story. :\ Guess I'll just have to see it.