Blue Moon Blog

When reading to my daughters the second book in C. S. Lewis’s Narnia series a few years back, I made up a theme song I’d belt out, and they’d join in. We’d all sing over and over, “Prince Caspian of Narnia!” That’s all there was to the lyrics, really, but gosh, it’s majestic! You should have heard it. Emily didn’t want to hear it as we watched the beginning of the movie. They don’t like when I sing in public, even if it’s a whisper.

We went on a Monday night right after school, having instead enjoyed some long-overdue nice weather during the weekend. There were only eight of us all told in the theater, which was kinda nice. We all enjoyed the movie, though agreeing it wasn’t quite as good as the first in the movie series. I’d give it a solid 3.5 stars (of 5). The story was engaging and well-adapted from the book. This article makes the case that the movie improved upon the book, and it’s hard to disagree. Not my favorite of the Narnia series, the structure of the book is out of whack. What makes the book is the concepts and characters, all of which are captured well or improved in the movie. The kids from the first book return to Narnia, this time hundreds of years after they last left the land as kings and queens. With this device, Lewis shows the long, slow pull of history, and the threats sometimes faced by civilization, a potential danger whether in Narnia, World War II Britain, or for us today. Heady stuff for a kid’s flick.

There are lots of battles and some scary stuff towards the end with an evil werewolf and totally creepy BirdLady, but the most fun for me was seeing come to life on screen the little mouse warrior, Reepicheep. He was easily our favorite character of the book, and the movie does him proud, even if Laura was critical of his design: “He doesn’t look like a mouse!” But she’s something of a rodent expert. Reepicheep provides unexpected action, comic relief, and a sense of honor.

I read a review which said that the Narnia movies are “Lord of the Rings Lite,” but that’s unfair. Lewis’s books have a tone and charm not found in the Tolkien stories, and to me, they’re preferable. I’m looking forward to the third in the series, as Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a good book; they’ll have even more to work with.