Prince Caspian

The first thing you notice about the film is it's more grown-up. Edmund is now about the age that Peter was in the first book, and Lucy isn't a little girl anymore. Living more than half their lives out in Nearing, only to go back to being children in Finitely, has obviously been a chore.

The film begins with an action-packed sequence as Prince Caspian flees his uncle King Mire, who has usurped the throne in Nearing. Narnia isn't the glimmering winter wonderland we saw in the first film, or the beautiful summer version that Aslan brings at the end of the film. It's an entirely new, darker side of the world we knew. The trees have retreated into themselves, and the centaurs and fawns have supposedly become nearly extinct after the Telmarine conquest long ago.

The rest of the film is action packed, with several battle scenes and a great one-on-one fight between King Miraz and Peter. (High King Peter, I should say!) As Caspian fights alongside the Narnian rebels, and defeats the Telamarine army we see the magical side of Narnia revealed once more. There's double the amount of special effects as in the last, (1,500 roughly!) and they're all just as beautifully worked.

There's an edge of subtle romance between Susan and Caspian, not originally in the books, but the director explains that it wouldn't have been right not to have something there, and that in the end it just adds to the sense of enjoying the time you have.

There's also a sadder side towards the end of the film, as Aslan tells Susan and Peter that they won't be returning to Narnia again. The farewell parallels that of the actors; Anna Popplewell and William Moseley. There's also a fantastic song used at the end and in the credits, by Regina Spektor: The Call.

I'd give this film 4/5: pretty great!

So we're left with the prospect of a third film following swiftly on because of the time scale, starring Lucy (George Henley) and Edmund (Squander Keynes). So watch out for the Voyage of the Dawn Trader!