This is the second of my three-part review of the entire BBC Narnia serial. The second BBC miniseries combines two books, and come off feeling like two separate movies rather than a whole. So I will review each separately:
PRINCE CASPIAN Most everyone I know agrees the Capsian segment has problems, primarily because the entire book is crammed into less than an hour. Whereas the other entries are all very slow-paced, PC is the opposite. By changing the structure of the book, the entire first 20 minutes are dedicated to Caspian, who is hardly developed. 5 minutes in and he's already on the run for his life. Next the movie switches over to the Pevensies who're thrown into Narnia, but they get very little to do before its time for a battle. So in conclusion, NO CHARACTER really gets developed very well, and by the end of the 50 minutes, we've met about 10 new characters whom we hardly know. I think a non-book reader would have hardly understood the story.
On the positive side: Caspian and Miraz both act very well in their limited screen time. Trumpkin also gets a few funny lines. And the badger Trufflehunter is done A LOT better than the Beavers from LWW.
WEAKEST MOMENT: The ABSOLUTELY MOST laughably bad scene in ALL of the Narnia BBC serials occurs in Prince Caspian when Dr. Cornelius reveals that he's part dwarf to Caspian. Despite the fact that Cornelius is blatantly a dwarf from the moment he first appears, and is even the same height as Caspian, apparently no one in the castle seems to notice this. Great guards you've got there, Miraz. So how does he reveal that he is part dwarf? By taking off his hood! Caspian's eyes widen and go: "You're a...!" Wow, I never knew that seeing someone's bald head would reveal that he is a dwarf. I realize the series had a small budget, but it's not asking much to reveal that he'd been standing on clogs or was doing something else that made him seem taller, rather than revealing his bald head, which is the most irrelevant thing!
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
The remaining two hours of the miniseries are an adaptation of Dawn Treader, and in doing so suddenly the entire miniseries improves tremendously, mostly because the story of VDT focuses less on battles and visual f/x and more on adventure, scenery, and discovery. The acting again is great. Eustace is great, and so is Caspian, played by Samuel West as a confident and articulate young king, sort of a Prince Valiant type. Stealing the show is Warwick Davis as Reepicheep. Yes, his costume is ridiculous, but you come to accept it after a time. And at a well-plotted two hours, this is the only time where the pacing is actually perfect!
WEAKEST MOMENT: There is still one laughably bad scene in VDT, and it's when Eustace first discovers that he is a dragon. The problem is that they try to film it EXACTLY as its written in the book. He wakes up, hears dragon noises, and assumes there is one beside him, then sees his reflection in the lake and realizes he has become a dragon. Great on paper, looks stupid filmed. The camera shakes around as it is his POV, then looks into the lake, and sees what's supposed to be his reflection, but is obviously a fake image of a dragon superimposed on the shot of the river! Oy vey! Together these two adaptations make an amusing miniseries, but the final entry would prove to be the best.
PRINCE CASPIAN Most everyone I know agrees the Capsian segment has problems, primarily because the entire book is crammed into less than an hour. Whereas the other entries are all very slow-paced, PC is the opposite. By changing the structure of the book, the entire first 20 minutes are dedicated to Caspian, who is hardly developed. 5 minutes in and he's already on the run for his life. Next the movie switches over to the Pevensies who're thrown into Narnia, but they get very little to do before its time for a battle. So in conclusion, NO CHARACTER really gets developed very well, and by the end of the 50 minutes, we've met about 10 new characters whom we hardly know. I think a non-book reader would have hardly understood the story.
On the positive side: Caspian and Miraz both act very well in their limited screen time. Trumpkin also gets a few funny lines. And the badger Trufflehunter is done A LOT better than the Beavers from LWW.
WEAKEST MOMENT: The ABSOLUTELY MOST laughably bad scene in ALL of the Narnia BBC serials occurs in Prince Caspian when Dr. Cornelius reveals that he's part dwarf to Caspian. Despite the fact that Cornelius is blatantly a dwarf from the moment he first appears, and is even the same height as Caspian, apparently no one in the castle seems to notice this. Great guards you've got there, Miraz. So how does he reveal that he is part dwarf? By taking off his hood! Caspian's eyes widen and go: "You're a...!" Wow, I never knew that seeing someone's bald head would reveal that he is a dwarf. I realize the series had a small budget, but it's not asking much to reveal that he'd been standing on clogs or was doing something else that made him seem taller, rather than revealing his bald head, which is the most irrelevant thing!
THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
The remaining two hours of the miniseries are an adaptation of Dawn Treader, and in doing so suddenly the entire miniseries improves tremendously, mostly because the story of VDT focuses less on battles and visual f/x and more on adventure, scenery, and discovery. The acting again is great. Eustace is great, and so is Caspian, played by Samuel West as a confident and articulate young king, sort of a Prince Valiant type. Stealing the show is Warwick Davis as Reepicheep. Yes, his costume is ridiculous, but you come to accept it after a time. And at a well-plotted two hours, this is the only time where the pacing is actually perfect!
WEAKEST MOMENT: There is still one laughably bad scene in VDT, and it's when Eustace first discovers that he is a dragon. The problem is that they try to film it EXACTLY as its written in the book. He wakes up, hears dragon noises, and assumes there is one beside him, then sees his reflection in the lake and realizes he has become a dragon. Great on paper, looks stupid filmed. The camera shakes around as it is his POV, then looks into the lake, and sees what's supposed to be his reflection, but is obviously a fake image of a dragon superimposed on the shot of the river! Oy vey! Together these two adaptations make an amusing miniseries, but the final entry would prove to be the best.