The Return to Narnia

It was May 16th. The day we had all been waiting for, for so long. The day my friends and I had been planning for and talking about for moths. Now it was here.

As I sat watching the opening footage of the new movie Prince Caspian, I could hardly believe that I was really there, watching it. It just didn't seem real. After all those movie trailers that I watched, I thought. All those months of looking at every photo shot I could find over and over again... all the discussion and speculation, now I am finally going to see it!
Is this real? I wondered.

Watching Caspian riding for his life, it finally sank in and I began crying in awe, excitement, amazement and gratitude for the gift I had been given in being able to see this movie. I have never felt that way about any film ever before. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, going to see a film for the first time. Never again will you have the feeling of sitting in a dark theater, straining to see what will happen next, because you've never seen this film before.

I knew right away that this would be not be anywhere near a faithful adaptation of the book, but I didn’t care. I had anticipated that fact, and made up my mind that it wouldn't ruin my enjoyment of the movie. I was here to have a great time. And I certainly did. I walked on air for two days straight after leaving the movie theater. Right now, hearing the music or seeing pictures would be enough to send me into raptures again.

After the first moments of disbelief, I was sucked into the action and had eyes and ears for nothing else. I giggled with delight as Reepicheep (He is sooo cute!) leapt on to the scene; my heart ached as hundreds of Narnian's were massacred due to messed up battle plans. I hated it when the credits stopped rolling.

I will admit that the movie did have its flaws (though few.) Example, for the majority of the movie, Peter was a complete jerk. (For those of you who have heard of my "engagement" to him, I have seriously considered ditching Peter for Reepicheep. ;) I can, however, understand where he was coming from, I might have even acted the same way if I were him. He 'repented' so to speak, so I might get married to him after all!

What I disliked the most was the fact that the filmmakers left out the gradual sightings of Aslan by the Pevensie children. They included Lucy being able to see him, but seemingly 'forgot' that as they walk down the river gorge and to Aslan's How, Edmund, Peter and Susan one by one are able to see him as well.

Also, was it just me, or have the centaurs started dressing differently since the Golden Age of Narnia? It seems to me that I remember them with a bit more clothing on their upper halves. Compare Orieus and Glenstorm.

On the positive side, I loved how the relationship between Lucy and Aslan was portrayed. By seeing Aslan through the eyes of Lucy, you were brought much closer to him then in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He seemed warmer, more touchable, more real. I felt that I knew this Aslan better then I did in the LWW. Those little glances between Aslan and Lucy every now and then were fantastic, you could tell they must have been reading each others thoughts. Both of them were great!

And as for what has to have been the most controversial element in the whole film (hands down without a doubt) the Caspian/Susan romance, I have to say that it was very nicely done. With the possible exception of the farewell scene, it was never made the focus of attention, definitely being a side issue - from my perspective anyhow. The infamous kiss wasn't nearly as bad as it appeared in the trailer, because now you saw it in context and it seemed a natural thing for Susan to do. Now, don't hit me over the head, but I shall come out and say it - I liked the kissing scene. The romance was great too. (There now all you who hate it can come chasing after me.)

One of my favorite parts was listening to the wonderful musical score underlying the action. Much of the music was re-played from LWW, bringing you back to Narnia. I love the score for these films, and have listened to the LWW soundtrack over and over until I know every minute of it. I actually was able to predict when scenes in PC were going to switch by listening to the music and remembering what happened at that point in the LWW. (I was right, of course. It even switched to the scene I thought it would.) The credit songs were not the quality of the first film -also, I don't really care for that kind of music - but the first one did fit with the closing scenes of the movie really well.

For the movie - in the absence of Susan and Lucy's dresses - I looked at photos of their hair-do's and my sisters and I went with their hairstyles. My hair was similar to Susan's when she was wearing her purple dress, and I wore it like that the next day because I couldn't have done otherwise. =) Oh, and I did bring with my Prince Caspian (see below post). He enjoyed the film almost as much as I did, so he tells me.

Overall, I absolutly loved this film and I look forward to seeing it again - and again and again. It was wonderful to be brought back into Narnia once more, even a Narnia that differed from the books. I eagerly await setting sail on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.

Ps. Yes, I admit now that Caspian has a Spanish accent! Though really, I still can't figure how you heard it from the few lines he said in the trailer. A bit distracting a times, but cool none the less.