#16

The last couple of days have been really slow, so there are no real big news.
Rafael van der Vaart is finally going to Real Madrid for 15m €. That's not that bad since he could have left for 1.5m € next summer. But I guess Bernd Schuster really wanted him there and since Cristiano Ronaldo is much more expensive and much harder to get they took Rafa. It's a shame that we won't see much of his wife, Sylvie, anymore.
Tomorrow you should watch Bayern Munich v Inter. The ZDF will broadcast the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup live from the Allianz Arena from 20:15 on. This will be the last test-match of Bayern so they should be up to shape. I'm hoping for a good match and some nice goals. Maybe Klinsmann will give Mehmet Ekici and Toni Kroos another chance.
But to come to another topic: Today's movie review.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian of Narnia





Director: Andrew Adamson

Cast: William Moseley ("Peter Pevensie"), Anna Popplewell ("Susan Pevensie"), Skandar Keynes ("Edmund Pevensie"), Georgie Henley ("Lucy Pevensie"), Ben Barnes ("Prince Caspian"), Sergio Castellito ("King Miraz")

Plot: One year has passed since the Pevensie children returned from the wonderful land of Narnia, where time passes a lot faster than in the "real" world. They ruled as Kings and Queens in Narnia for many years, but they returned and left Narnia as it was and thought it would stay like this. Unfortunately one year in our world is 1300 years in Narnia time. And a lot has changed since they left. But they don't return on their own will, but they are called with Susan's horn that she left in Narnia. It was blown by Prince Caspian, the crown prince of the Telmarines who is pursued by his own warriors, because his uncle wants him dead to take the throne for himself. He is rescued by a dwarf, a Narnian, whom the Telmarines thought to be dead. When Caspian's uncle, now King Miraz, finds out that there are Narnians left, he decides to kill them all once and for all. So there is a new war going on in Narnia and the Pevensie children are going to help Prince Caspian win the war against his own uncle.

Review: When I watched the first Narnia movie, "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", I already realised, that C.S. Lewis took some of his ideas from Tolkien, but it didn't bother me that much because it was a good and entertaining movie, but with "Prince Caspian" this changes. Even though it is still fun and entertaining, it lacks of new ideas, a thrilling plot and in effects. The film starts with Miraz' wife giving birth to a boy. But when we first get to London to see the Pevensie kids, there is no real explanation of what happened to them in our world. All we get to know is that Susan seems to be a loner and Peter likes to fight for no apparent reason at all. And when the children come back to Narnia it is merely mentioned that so much time has passed and that they were the great leaders of this world. This could have been done with a simple flashback to show what they really mean to the Narnians.
The next problem is the plot:
The Telmarines have conquered Narnia. But why? Nobody ever tells you. And why do they need to kill all the Narnians? No explanation there either. But that's not the mean problem with the plot. Everything seems to happen out of any real context. The Pevensies are called to Narnia and they just help without asking real questions. And what bugged me the most:
Why do the Telmarines have a Spanish accent? Yes, they are from the South Sea, but this accent is dubbed so badly in the German synchro that you wish for the english original right from the start of the movie.
Another big problem are the CG-effects/costumes. The "The Lord of the Rings"-Movies are 5 years old and yet the seem to be done better than "Prince Caspian". Don't get me wrong. Some effects, like Aslan's fur, are really good and nice to look at, but some effects look like taken from the late 90's of the last century. And this is also the case with some of the costumes, especially the creature-costumes. Some of them like the budget had been around $30m when in fact it was around $200m.
And to finally look at what's wrong with "Prince Caspian" you need to take a look at the characters. The male Pevensies, Peter and Edmund, are unlikeable. Peter is stubborn and bitchy and Edmund never seems to be doing anything constructive or helpful. And Miraz seems to be a clone of King Leonidas from the movie "300". And even Aslan seems to be a weisenheimer who is only in the movie to tell everybody platitudes.
A last point of criticism is the rating. In Germany you are allowed to see the movie with 12. And I agree with this rating. But it feels like the movie would've been better if the had added a little bit more violence and therefore a higher rating, but it seems like they had to get a PG or 12 rating, so that all the little kids can see the little mouse talk.
Nevertheless I said that the movie is fun and entertaining and it really is. There is a lot of humor in it and most of the characters work just fine. Especially Susan, played by Anna Popplewell, has turned into a real cutie.
The music and the locations are good as well and help the movie to at least transport the feeling of a real existing world.
As a résumé I think it is important to say that everybody who liked the first movie will come to like the second one as well even though there are some major flaws in it.

7,3 out of 10 majestical roars

That is nearly it for now but:

For those who do not want to be spoilered: Don't continue reading!!!!!





I wanted to add, that I probably will not the next Narnia movie due to some simple facts:
1. Susan and Peter will not return to Narnia, so the next movie is about Edmund, Lucy and King Caspian.
2. The plot seems to be less interesting as the last ones.