Countdown to VDT Release - 3 days

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Favorite Scene: When the children are in the train station and come back into Narnia through their exploration and realization that they're in Cair Paravel and them meeting Trumpkin. If you really think about it, suddenly leaving a world and then showing up there hundreds of years later to see the ruins of your castle would be pretty intense emotionally. I love the line Lucy has where she realizes all their friends are gone. It's sobering how they realize it after they were so excited to be back in Narnia again as though they could just pick up where they left off and everything would be the same. Although it's really cheesy, I love Peter's "High King Peter. The Magnificent" Cracks me up every time.  

Biggest Surprise: The castle raid. I was all like "what is going on, what did you do with Peter and what are they doing?" the first time I saw it. The actual characters never would have done that, however it definitely fits with the new character they're working with for Peter. There are some pretty good/intense moments in the battle and it makes me want to cry every time when Peter turns back and sees the soldiers trapped behind the gate. I guess also falling under the category of this scene would be the way they changed Peter's character.
It was also slightly startling the first time I watched it to start off the movie with Prunaprismia's labor screams.  

Least Favorite Scene: I don't really like the addition of the part where Lucy and Susan go off and Caspian follows them and rescues Susan. First off, they're in the stinking woods. It's not like they need to go far away to wake up some trees. Secondly, I don't like that Susan is all like I'm staying here you go on ahead. And lastly what the heck is Caspian doing out in the woods!?! His uncle is dueling Peter for his throne, he should be there not worrying about the girls. It's just a bit of a forced "Susaspian" moment I think.

Favorite Character(human): King Edmund. In LWW Edmund is a bit of a stupid kid, but by PC he's grown so much. He is secure in his position as a king, but defers to the High King as well. I mean seriously, how many times in history has it ever worked to have two kings over one kingdom? Skandar Keynes does an excellent portrayal. He pulled off the "bad Edmund" part in the last movie, and now he makes Edmund a very likable and matured character. In this movie several characters (ie Peter, Caspian, Susan) are changed alot from the book, and I like that Edmund is more similar to his book self. Looking forward to seeing more of him, and I hope he has more screen time/dialogue in the VDT.

Although I do not like the character of Miraz, I thought he was very well portrayed and did a good job.

Favorite Character(fictional creature): Reepicheep. His voicing is executed very well. They did an excellent job portraying him as a noble and humorous character. I love when he ties up the cat during the castle raid, and how the mice use their tails to slide down the ropes.  

Costumes: Love all the detail in the armor. During the duel scene there are lots of nice close ups of this. I like how the Narnians wear a similar style clothing/armor as in LWW and the Telmarines have a completely different and foreign style in their clothing. I also love the outfits that all the children put on when they get to Narnia.

Scenery/Set: The scenery in PC is even more beautiful than LWW. They did alot more traveling for the filming and the variety adds a really nice touch. I love the Cair Paravel scene at the beginning. It's gorgeous.

Music: My favorite part of the music is during the attack on the castle. Most of the soundtrack is very similar to the LWW music. In a way I was glad that the themes were still there and the music lead you back to the Narnia of the first movie. However, I wouldn't have minded a little bit more variety. A few more new themes and songs as well as a bit more variation on the previous themes would have been nice. Then there would be twice the amount of good music to listen to instead of feeling like you're listening to the LWW soundtrack over again for alot of PC. I generally don't like Regina Spektor's style of music, but I really like her song that plays at the end.

Overall Adaption: I must admit the first time I watched this movie it was filled with exclamations along the lines of: "what are they doing?" "No, don't do it Peter!" "why are you saying that?" "What are you thinking?" "WHY?" "Where are you going?" What is with this?" "Nooooooooo!" and such. However by the third time I watched it I had a much more favorable opinion. There are so many changes made to the book. Some, such as beginning with Caspian leaving and cutting out the parts with his nurse and Dr. Cornelious coming and all that make sense for a movie adaption. But other things like the castle raid, Susaspian, Peter and Caspian's attitudes, etc were just straight up changed. At first I was very perturbed by this because I'm a "by the book" kindof girl. However, after watching it a few times I appreciate and enjoy the movie for what it is. Now I have two different Prince Caspian stories to enjoy instead of one story in two formats. When a movie is made and changes the book alot I usually just have to separate them in my mind a bit and enjoy them both separately.

I thought some of the dialogue was a little out of place. For example, Caspian and Dr. Cornelius's 5 more minutes joke, overused, really? Susan's "You might need to call me again." Tacky.

There are also great moments though and several good tear-jerkers. Especially the end when they come back. All things considered, it's a keeper.