People have been saying Prince Caspian isn’t as good as its predecessor, but I enjoyed it thoroughly, perhaps even more consistently than the first, since the pacing is simpler and smoother and the battles are all impressive, as opposed to, say, that one with the kids fleeing wolves at a waterfall. The imagery is much less iconic, but more mature and fitting to the story. As with most fantasy sequels, it has 80% less cuteness and 55% more sweeping epic, and doesn’t suffer for it. It took itself very seriously and that’s the way I like my fantasies – albeit not without comic relief, and Reepicheep provides that well. It’s not much of a story, a problem that needs a big scrap to sort it out being sorted out by a big scrap, chock full of great visuals. Centaurs forming a tunnel with their swords, one little girl stepping out to face an army, Peter donning his armour…these were great moments. Although it takes itself seriously, though, it is aware of the pomposity and the patronising tone of the source material, making light of both (in subtle ways) and is on the right side of the 90s emphasis on irony. I found it a little odd, though, that even though for the first hour or so, I with thinking that you would only see the Christian allegory if you looked for it, sure Aslan is God, and you can’t win without Aslan…but it was really obvious in the last third, from the appearance of the White Witch, which I believe wasn’t even in the book (though it’s admittedly been a while and I remember relatively little compared to the other volumes), to…well, the way Aslan acts.
Only things I didn’t like: actors’ faces being bashed by cameras (silly) and not enough attention paid to the way these are after all adults in kids’ bodies (though after the book I was pleased it was there at all).
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