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Starring: Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Tilda Swinton, William Moseley

Director: Andrew Adamson

Music: Harry Gregson-Williams

Cinematographer: Karl Walter Lindenlaub

Screenplay: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on a book by C. S. Lewis

DVD, Rs. 599

The second instalment of “Chronicles of Narnia” based on C.S. Lewis’ beloved books is rather long at over two hours and it feels longer. This is perhaps not fair, as fans of the series might feel that the movie is mind-blowing and the rest of it. This reviewer felt that Peter Jackson’s “Return of the King” was not at all long at three hours and forty minutes! So it is all relative and since comparisons are odious, we will not say another word about the razor-sharp editing, the rousing battle scenes, the weird and wonderful creatures and the rock stars in the form of the slinky Viggo Mortensen in the “Lord of the Rings” movies!

“Prince Caspian” starts off with a woman delivering a child. And then there is the evil (you know he is evil by his indeterminate accent and his beetling brows) King Miraz who cryptically tells his lieutenant to do the needful. Cut to dishy-looking Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) being roused from bed by his faithful tutor and being told to run for his life.

The scene shifts to the Strand underground station in England. The date is July 12, 1941 and the four Pevensie children — Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are off to school when all of sudden they are transported to Narnia. Things have changed in that magical land. It is been 1300 years since the children ruled the land and they have become a distant folk memory.

Narnia has been overrun by the Telmarines, ruled by King Miraz, who plans to execute his nephew Caspian to secure the throne for his son.

The children enter the fray, do all manner of heroic things and good triumphs over evil. While there are the set battle pieces which are suitably eye-popping and all manner of weird and wonderful creatures, the pace is a tad clunky, when it should have been light as air and enchanting.

There are too many conversations, especially one sequence where everyone is pointing sharp objects at each other and holding forth seemingly forever. You almost wish they would just kill each other and be done with it.

Some of the creatures like the mouse and beaver are just a bit too cute and squeal “merchandise” from their expertly computer animated mouths. And Aslan takes forever to appear.

On the plus side however, Aslan looks even more regal and that little cameo by Tilda Swinton as the white witch is almost worth the price of the DVD. That bit of seduction to the dark side is quite well done with horrid beasts like hunger, anger and fear gnawing away at our innards.

There is a whole extra DVD of extras including deleted scenes and a fascinating making of a featurette, which talks of all the physical hardship that went into making a movie of this magnitude. It is while watching this featurette and also one on the sets and locations, that you get an idea of time and effort that goes into making a SFX heavy like this. If only that magic had translated on screen!

The bitter-sweet ending reminding you that you can never return to the same place, providing a satisfying coda.

Just wish director Adamson had taken his own advice of not taking things too seriously, for after all, this is a movie and meant to be entertaining.

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

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