The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I knew I wasn’t suppose to watch the movie and any movie at these times considering that times are hard (No, I don’t mean about the rice shortage, the ongoing US visa retrogression, etc). It was brutally hard for me and the entire family to cope with the recent myocardial infarct my dad had suffered and had caused profound emotional and financial pseudo-decapitation. And to temporarily get away from the thought of it through watching a movie is like a guilty pleasure. You know, it feels good, but it seems not right. It took me three hours to actually make up my mind and get my butt onto the theater seat. I have been waiting for this movie for ages since The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This is like Ethiopia brought into the silver screen. And so I stayed for more than a couple of hours, regressing into childhood, and just stayed focused to what and how the movie is going. It’s like being in Narnia.

I must admit that just like most movies adopted from the book, there are revisions that break and make the avid reader’s heart – casting, the story plot, the song and the kissing (yeah, yeah the kissing – it’s not in the book, you see, but it’s good to be there. I am utterly clueless that the last part would shatter my heart (on top of the recent happenings) and make me feel like almost busted. The Call by Regina Spektra ended the flick with a terrible sense of loss (the thought that love is over for both Susan and Prince Caspian, the fact that I won’t be seeing Peter and Susan in the next installation, and just the thought that it’s over) and nostalgia. It took me days to get over it. I am, however, happy with their choice of Ben Barnes, he may not be the one that Lewis described as the prince, but he’s got justice to what he did. And, yes, the animation is amazing plus superb musical score. Noteworthy, however, is the typical war-and-hero story that controlled the scenes, it is no extraordinary movie, I must say. There is something lacking in the movie that I just can’t recognize. Over all, no matter what, I should confess it’s a movie I like and would never get bored watching it again and again. Just like Stardust, Harry Potter and the classic The Never-Ending Story, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian has somewhat achieved the pinnacle of what I call perfect fantasy movie.

It is a dream and a fantasy translated into life, after all.

But, hey, reality knocks me down and says, back to the real world, man. It’s no more Narnia!