Movie review

[etumukutenyak]

I suppose I should review the movie we saw yesterday. I was looking forward to seeing Prince Caspian, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

Well, I did fall asleep during the movie, so clearly it was not as compelling as the first movie. Prince Caspian, as played by Ben Barnes, was just a little bland. I'm not sure what kind of accent he was supposed to have, and it was a wee bit intermittent, so I was really not sure why he needed an accent. His dad, whatever his name was, was nicely evil. The badger was funny, and Peter Dinklage shone as a grumpy dwarven warrior of Narnia. He does glowering so well.

Edmund was reformed and did not have any evil adventures; Peter and Susan were on the bland side of things too. I dislike it when characters repeatedly make errors of judgement, and Lucy kept annoying me with her "innocence", constantly approaching beings as if she could immediately trust them. Of course, that is what she did from the very beginning, but one would think she'd have learned from that bear.

Maybe I'm just too skeptical and cynical to believe anyone could remain so innocent.

The battles were decently plotted and choreographed. New Zealand is still a beautiful country. This was filmed also in Poland and Slovenia, which were also beautiful. Reepicheep was bigger than I'd imagined, and voiced by Eddie Izzard, which is cool.

Overall, not as good as the first movie.

Comments

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I read the Narnia books a couple of times before the Christian symbolism got to me, and both times, I liked Prince Caspian the least. I suppose they had to make it anyway.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

IIRC, there are some subplots in PC which were more interesting than the main character himself. But that might be just me. ;-)

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

I always thought I would make a good grumpy dwarf. Or Reepicheep. But the idea of an Eddie Izzard voice is cool.
My favorite is 'The horse and his boy'( possibly because I like Aravis ;-)) and 'Voyage of the Dawntreader'(possibly because it was about ships AND dragons...)

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Yes, those were my favorite books too. :-) And you might make a good grumpy dwarf but only with lots of makeup and some training on how to be grumpy. ;-)

Peter Dinklage has a smouldering core of anger that shows in just about every role he plays. Good for him, as it makes the characters that much more three-dimensional.

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think I have a similar problem - an unresolved (unresolvable?) fury with the sheer wrongness of so many things. An unwillingness merely to accept the status quo. I detect it in my writing - and try and mute it to mere backgound rage. (wry smile) 'A rebel I came, and I'm still the same, though my comrades' ghosts march beside me.' Anyway - the boys are going to see it tomorrow. I may go along.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Yes, your feelings come through in your writing. I was joking above, but in a more serious line, I think that having a core of rage does not necessarily translate to being grumpy, unless you're having trouble managing that core.

I lived in a state of rage for more than a year. It wasn't pleasant. Everything was enhanced, including my blood pressure; colors were brighter, tastes were sharper, more intense -- and my reactions to even the smallest frustration were exaggerated. It takes a lot of energy to maintain that intensity, and I eventually calmed down. I know I can wake that rage with the right stimuli (internal as well as external), so I am very careful about my thoughts.

Being grumpy is more superficial, at least to me. It's an outer shedding of stimuli before they get too far inwards.

I'm never willing to accept the status quo, especially not when it means the same old BS and perpetuation of wrongness. If I can challenge DOMA, then I will.

Yeah, go along and enjoy the beautiful scenery in the movie. The fighting -- although bloodless for the kiddies -- is pretty well-choreographed, and the landscape is just gorgeous. ;-)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Can anything with Eddie Izzard in it be totally bad? I never read the books, and I thought the first movie was so-so. (I kept wanting to tell the older boy to watch it when he'd draw out his sword.) Should I wait for the DVD?

By the way, have you ever shown your son the movie Shadowland?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

You might want to read the books, unless you really think that Christian imagery is going to overwhelm you. The first book (Lion, Witch and Wardrobe) was pretty good -- the plot kept things moving along and it was mainly a voyage of discovery. The other books suffer a bit from heavy-handedness until you get to Horse and His Boy and Dawn Treader; in those you get back to more plot-driven and less "Kings and Queens of Narnia!!!".

But yes, wait for the DVD.

Shadowland? No. I'm not sure I've ever heard of it myself.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

You must watch Shadowland. Like I said, I've never read the books, but I loved that movie, with Anthony Hopkins as C.S.Lewis. My favorite line from it is:

"We read to know we're not alone."

Here are details about the film:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108101/

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! Now I remember it. I shall have to put that on my Netflix queueueue. First, we shall watch some George Carlin, and appreciate his comic genius, and shed a tear for his passing.