I went and saw Prince Caspian - opening night - as I did with the Lion, Witch, Wardrobe. I've had the count down in my cell phone since I found out the day it was being released. I've been excited!
Well, the movie as a whole was quite good, they did a beautiful job on the scenes, the actors were very good and the parts that followed the book or were adapted into film were just as good as the LWW and made me cry tears of sheer happiness that it was on a big screen - I have been waiting over 20 years for moments like those!
However, and this is where the SPOILERS kick in...
The 2 things that ruined it for me - I almost walked out of the theatre I was so pissed off - were;
1. They developed Peter's character into a prolonged jerk and there was a power struggle between him and Caspian. At the beginning of Chapter 13 I quote "'I'm afraid not High King,' said Caspian. He was liking Peter very much..."
Hollywood in all it's wisdom seems to think that 2 young men can't get along...or at least that's what they are telling us to think. But this isn't what really pissed me off...
This is;
2. There was an additional scene that wasn't in the book. Instead of holding at Alsan's How, Peter decides to storm Miraz's Castle, at night. What's wrong with that? I will tell you!
It was dark, it was gloomy, it was hopeless, there were alot of characters dying and left behind to die - they made it gory without reason and left you with a sick feeling in your stomach, kind of like when they make a war movie and 30 guys that were all important characters all get trapped and left behind to die in some horrible manner. This is Narnia, there's a certain sense of innocence that is supposed to come along with it.
WHY does the movie industry feel it necessary to add violence? I'm sure there's going to be a big bloody battle in Voyage of the Dawntreader - even though there is no battle or situation for a battle.
There was a guy outside the theater afterwards that J and I overheard talking to his friends. He said that the storm on Miraz's castle was way more graphic in the book. WHAT? It took everything I had to keep from pushing him down. Tool!
It may seem that I am over reacting, but anyone who is a Narnia fan from the books, will agree that there is a reason we are fans, and making them 'hollywood' is not the appropriate way to please the people who will stick around in the long run.
Long live C.S. Lewis' Narnia!
