'Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'

Rating:

BY JOHN ANDERSON | Special to Newsday

May 16, 2008

Yes, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" made me feel like a kid again - the kind of grimy, restless kid who keeps asking, "Are we there yet?" The kid has no idea where he's going, no particular desire to get there, and a sense that he's going to hate it when he does. A cookie would have helped. No such luck.

The first of many sequels to the enormously successful "Chronicles of Narnia" (three quarters of a billion dollars worldwide), "Prince Caspian" has the same problems as its predecessor: a C.S. Lewis story line rendered anemic, and a cast of sweet but unengaging principals - Georgie Henley as Lucy, Skandar Keynes as Edmund, William Moseley as Peyter and Anna Popplewell as Susan, all named Pevensie and all normal wartime London children who previously walked into a wardrobe and found a lion, and a witch. Like a symphony that opens with a crescendo, "Prince Caspian" also lacks dynamics: A scene of childbirth, an attempted assassination, a man riding face first into a tree, and a brawl in the London Underground all unroll in the first 15 minutes (none of which is suitable for very small children).

What's tiresome is the sense that every subsequent line of dialogue, every turn in the action, is being accompanied by a fanfare of 400 trumpets. Nothing builds, nothing develops. When the movie's being grandiloquent, it's relatively understated.

Also, computer generated images are killing the movies: When there's so little human content, it's hard to make a human connection. The producers of the Narnia films would no doubt love to be beloved, a la " Harry Potter," but they should take a tip from Potter and include someone, or something, with a pulse.

Exhibit A: Starring, sort of, as the titular prince is Ben Barnes, who bears a striking resemblance to Padma Lakshmi and possesses all the electrifying screen presence of Orlando Bloom. Caspian is being dealt out of his rightful place on the Narnia throne by his evil uncle (Sergio Castellitto). The Pevensies, meanwhile, are in wartime London, bored, wondering when they'll be carried back to the land of Aslan. Prophecy, faith and redemption are all part of Lewis' Narnia allegory, although all I found myself praying for was a cessation of hostilities.

Isn't it romantic? Should it be?

Much of the prerelease gossip about "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" was about a new element that the filmmakers contributed: a romance between Caspian (Ben Barnes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell). Barnes told MTV News that he initially shared the concerns of many "Narnia" fans: "I was deeply concerned about the romance."

But director Andrew Adamson defended the plot addition. "I think it's very sensitively handled," he said. "The kids are growing up. If you look at Ben and you look at Anna, it seems really implausible that they wouldn't have some feelings for each other."

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN (PG). The Pevensie siblings are swept back to the enchanted land, where the rightful ruler has been usurped, a despot rules and the talking animals and centaurs have to set things right. Overcooked. With Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Peter Dinklage. Screenplay by Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeeley, from the C.S. Lewis novels. Directed by Andrew Adamson. 2:20 (violence, intense action). At area theaters.