Midnight Prince Caspian Viewing

A few months back when I had the junior high girls over for a slumber party, I mentioned to them how fun it would be to go see Prince Caspian together -- which played out into an 18 person group from our church at the midnight showing! Watching a highly-anticipated movie with a large, fun group enhances the experience at least 10-fold. Here are my thoughts on the show (keep in mind, I have only just returned, and the coffee hasn't worn off, so forgive any unclear ramblings):

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• Characters: Lucy was just perfect. Her steady faith in Aslan's wisdom and power, unselfish motives and delight in Aslan himself were utterly true to the stories as well as a refreshing respite from the doubts and feuding of Peter and Caspian. Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy is just right -- age, poise and sweetness of temper. Edmund is also terrific. He does a great job of being a strong understated character in this movie -- solid, loyal and brave (Ed is my favorite of the Pevensies, which makes me excited for Dawn Treader). Susan's character was changed most -- from being someone who "hated killing things" in the book, to a warrioress leading the archers in battle. Aside from this derivation (which made her a much better character than she is in the book, to my opinion), the worst of it is that she has this developed sexuality. She and Caspian keep exchanging meaningful glances and the movie ends with a cheesy quip from Susan "it wouldn't have worked between us anyway". The teens viewing this movie joined me in the wholehearted opinion that the suggested romance nearly ruined the movie. It's just dumb. Other than that, Susan was much more like later Narnian girls, like Jill or Aravis, whom I always preferred. Peter was sort of a wash. Perhaps they tried hard to show how he was "coming of age", but I didn't like how he was portrayed as having no faith in Aslan, or how he bickers with Caspian throughout, but his fight with Miraz is fantastic, as well as other fighting scenes. By the end, Peter is mended and back to his wise and mature self. Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Caspian himself. The movie didn't do enough to endear you to the Prince, and his acting was quite inferior to the other children in the movie. I thought he was rather hunchy and gritted-teethy, rattling off revengeful declarations rather like the Spaniard in "The Princess Bride". Perhaps they'll use someone else in Dawn Treader.
  
• Plot: A lot of talk was made of the derivations from the book, but I found them to be really true to the stories. Strict constructionists may disagree, but PC was not really written with the modern screenplay in mind, so elevating the battle scenes and intensifying other parts were actually rather well done. I eluded to the Caspian/Susan romance which was by far the silliest change, and also the heavy emphasis on the feud between Peter and Caspian. This leads to a lot of accusations and heated scenes that sort of drag the movie down a bit. Not to say the plot was not excellent -- it really was. And it loosely follows the exact layout of the story: Intro of Pevensies and problem, battles for the throne, Aslan's rescue and leaving through the doorway. One part I thought improved was the scene where the werewolf and the hag are brought by Nikabrik to propose bringing back the White Witch. In the movie, she actually is seen, just about ready to return, while Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Trumpkin fight off the vermin. You see that Caspian is tempted to reach to her, and Edmund shatters the ice that holds the Witch. It's very well done.
• Theology: The main derivations of theology were mainly seen in a couple statements by Aslan. They are minor but significant (and likely only caught by someone who has practically memorized Aslan's statements). He tells Lucy that as she grows, he grows, which is just slightly off, but implies something rather postmodern about Lucy's faith (being what she makes it). He also tells Lucy that they don't know what would have happened if she would obeyed right away, which is the largest change in Aslan's character, who, in the books, is omniscient and knows all the possibilities of other worlds and actions.

It was a great movie. I certainly plan on watching it again -- perhaps this weekend!