Feb. 26, 2008

After its predecessor, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," surprised industry experts by grossing more than $290 million in the United States alone, you'd think the media would be taking "Prince Caspian" far more seriously. But the potential blockbuster seems amazingly under the radar compared with May's other openers. Therefore, it's not surprising that Disney sat your intrepid columnist down with director Andrew Adamson and producer Mark Johnson to watch a good 45 minutes of the upcoming flick. And, not surprisingly, there is a lot about the new movie for audiences to get excited about.

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Caspian is pretty cool: It's hard to introduce a new main character in the second installment of a franchise, but Adamson may have pulled it off with Caspian. The movie begins with the prince's life on the line after the birth of a younger male cousin. Caspian's evil uncle is king, and with the new heir his dashing nephew is expendable. The chase scene that follows is far more dramatic than most of "Wardrobe" and makes Caspian immediately sympathetic. The fact that newcomer Ben Barnes has some genuine charisma doesn't hurt either.

There really is more action: One major scene finds Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund (who have returned to Narnia) attempting to overtake the Telmarine castle with a reunited band of Narnia creatures. The fact that the operation occurs at night helps matters, but Adamson has learned to increase the tension and make you believe these kids were great warriors when they ruled the land (well, more than you'd expect at least). As Adamson says, "It is more intense, but it's not bloody or gory. It is a balance between keeping everything real so the emotions are there."

No surprise, this is the last of Peter and Susan: One dramatic plotline Adamson has played up is the tension between Peter, the oldest of the children, and Caspian. Peter hasn't adjusted to living back in the real world after ruling a kingdom and is eager to prove he's the rightful ruler of the land. This could come across a little too heavy-handedly, but in the scenes I previewed it seemed subtler than most moviegoers would expect. Adamson says it all ties into why Peter and Susan realize this will be their last visit to Narnia. Edmund and Lucy return in the next film, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader."

New influences for classic enemies: C.S. Lewis conceived the Telmarines as the descendants of pirates, but Adamson has taken it a step further by clearly portraying them with Spanish influences. He says he was looking to differentiate them from the British characteristics of the Pevensie children, but it was a little too obvious for this columnist.

Hardcore fans are a tough crowd: Adamson has had to change a number of things from the original book, including certain plot points, in order to make the story more cinematic, and he expects to hear grumbles from some of the hard-core fans. "There [are] always fanatics who will have that response," Adamson says. "How true to the book does the movie have to be? I think for me it's finding the key points, the key individual characters and the key themes and staying true to those."

Aslan's back: Yes, the golden lion returns. Just as in the book, Lucy is the first to see him and has to convince everyone else he's still alive. Unlike "Wardrobe," though, a majority of his screen time doesn't occur until the final act.

The verdict: "Caspian" looks to be a noticeable improvement over "Wardrobe" and should win over some moviegoers who wanted more "Lord of the Rings"-style scope to the "Narnia" franchise.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" opens nationwide May 16.

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