The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Narnia returns minus the thrills

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Monday, May 19, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Narnia returns minus the thrills

Actor Ben Barnes in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’.

Film: The Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian (English)

Director: Andrew Adamson

Prepare to be surprised. For all the thrills and adventure of the original, the Narnia sequel is a film so gentle, with a pace so leisurely that you could as well have been sitting at the river bank, waiting for the next ripple to kiss the shore. Bows and arrows, shields and swords are all there but scarcely is there an emotion unworthy of repetition. Enduring love, nascent romance, bravery…are all lauded. Here hearths still rule and swords are not so much as weapons of destruction as a tool for self-preservation. The long locks, the customary dresses with frills, and those tall torches illuminating caves and palaces, lend a touch of yesterday, pure and simple.

The new “Narnia”, not quite the wonderful world it was supposed to be, is for those who can suspend reason but can sail along a fantasy. All that is thanks to a decent screenplay and some wafting fable-like qualities in treatment by director Andrew Adamson. It is a story of human ambition, treachery and those qualities we lay much stock by: loyalty, fearlessness, discipline. Yes, it is about Prince Caspian and a world where the heir is being denied his right to take over the reins , but it could have been about any regent, an heir with little power, or closer home a yuvraj.

The struggle for power, the defendants, the assailants are all like the original. The ‘courtroom’ drama is a little more elaborate, the knights not always in gleaming armour. Where the film lacks is in drama. There is too much fair play, too much predictability, too little suspense. Agreed the four young boys and girls, though they have grown up a bit, can do only as much, but this time, the smoothness of narration occasionally lapses into monotony. And action is not high octane stuff, rather some half stabs at getting the adrenaline running.

The first romance is a nice little aside that evokes smiles though. As does the cinematographer. The wilds are appealing, and the timelessness of the characters does not make them completely unidentifiable. Their emotions are very human.

The “Prince Caspian” saga, based loosely on C.S. Lewis’s novel, could have done with better editing. And maybe a better pace for kids.

The adults might like the leisurely flow of events but, hey, “Narnia” was essentially a kiddy land? Never mind. You can still enjoy this sequel.

ZIYA US SALAM

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