…to adapt a classical work of literature and serve it up being absolutely short of excellent. Needless to say, this was what happened in Prince Caspian.
So I’m writing to express my utter disappointment in the newest Narnia film: Prince Caspian. When I saw the trailer a year ago at San Diego’s Comic-Con International, I was filled with excitement and anticipation at seeing another one of my favorite books come to life on the big-screen. I was excited when Andrew Adamson, the director, said he would be taking a darker approach to the story, because Prince Caspian is indeed a much darker tale compared to The Magician’s Nephew or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Now, Prince Caspian has never been my favorite book in the series, but I always enjoyed reading it. So it was no question how excited I was for the movie.
Fast forward a year later in May and I have finally seen the movie after a long and agonizing wait, and I have to say, I’ve only ever walked out on a movie once before, and that movie was The Brothers Grimm, but only because it was so boring I didn’t feel like sitting through the whole thing. I never thought I would say this regarding a Narnia movie, but I felt like I was betrayed. I felt like someone had promised me something spectacular, and I got something completely and utterly unlike what I had expected, and what I had deserved.
The thing with adapting classic books onto the big screen is that you usually have no license to go about changing things. In essence, you already have your brilliant script. As a film crew, your task is to translate the story onto the screen, and only modify scenes as necessary for the characters and the story to develop. Basically, you’re tweaking an already well-written script to make sure audience members who are not fans of the book can follow. Usually sequence is not a big restriction–you are usually welcome to change the ordering of scenes as you like. But where you are restricted as a filmmaker is in the translation of the story–your understanding of the characters’ motives and personalities, and your interpretation of the spirit of the story–that’s almost set in stone.
Prince Caspian did nothing of the sort. Andrew Adamson had professed that he was a fan of the books, fan enough to try and give it justice on the big screen. He did nothing of the sort. To me, he did not translate the book onto the screen–he created his own story, and merely slapped the name Narnia in front of it. The film barely resembled the book. The gist was there–Prince Caspian flees his murderous uncle, King Miraz, and enlists the help of the Old Narnians to reclaim his throne. In the heat of this battle, he is forced to blow Susan’s magic horn and summons the Pevensie children back to Narnia to help him. The film delivers on the gist, all right, but it misses the mark on everything else. Not only did the script writers take extreme liberties in inserting totally new scenes that completely altered the meaning of the story, but they also underscored some of the major characters, who I had expected to play bigger roles in the film.
I would like to enumerate the mistakes:
First off, they did not tell the history of Prince Caspian. I felt this was an important part of the story, because how are we supposed to sympathize with a boy if we barely know his character? I thought the relationship between Caspian and Dr. Cornelius was something essential to understanding Caspian’s character, and yet it was almost nonexistent in the film. Without giving us Prince Caspian’s childhood, there was no sense of rapport established between the audience and Prince Caspian. We just knew he was trying to avoid getting killed, which is hardly anything special. I also thought the use of “Professor” by Caspian in addressing Dr. Cornelius was stupid. This is not Harry Potter, and you should know better, Andrew Adamson, than to let this slip by. The title of “Professor” has no place in Narnia–it is uncharacteristic.
Another thing that bothered me was the accent. They had made Prince Caspian and the rest of the Telmarines speak with an accent reminiscent of Inigo Montoya of The Princess Bride. I thought this was silly and it all seemed forced. Yes, the Telmarines were a different race from the Old Narnians, sure, but they were human, and I don’t see why there was a need to give them Spanish-sounding accents. I felt it was absolutely unnecessary and it took away the seriousness of the story and seemed like a burden on Prince Caspian himself. If they wanted to convey that they were different, they could have done it by character and not by forcing the use of accents on their actors. It was absolutely laughable and excruciating to watch.
The scene at Cair Paravel was immensely lacking as well. The children should have been more puzzled, more disturbed and more time should have been devoted to their realization that the castle they once presided in as kings and queens of Narnia was reduced to a pile of ruins. That way, it would have established that sense of wonderment and need in the audience to know what the hell was going on.
Third, Susan’s horn. It was a vital part of the story, and yet it was severely underscored in the film. Not only was its importance not showcased properly, it was also used differently than in the book. In the film, Prince Caspian uses the horn after he hits his head on a tree trunk and in an attempt to defend himself from Trumpkin of all people (once again, a scene not in the book). This is a grave error, because it once again misrepresents one of the main parts of the book. Susan’s horn was only meant to be blown in grave circumstances. And yet in the film Prince Caspian blows the horn only to save himself–not to save his army, as in the book. It made Caspian out to be a selfish person, and made the horn out to be less magical and less important than it really was. Also, the use of Trumpkin as some sort of villain completely goes against what his character was intended to be. He and Trufflehunter were both trying to help Caspian, not attack him. Sure, Trumpkin was probably less trusting of Caspian than Trufflehunter, but he did not attempt to attack him in the book, and to make this so in the film is confusing and takes away from the sense of urgency in Caspian’s blowing the horn at the most extreme time of need.
The Pevensie children gaze in awe at the scenery around them as Trumpkin leads them through a drastically changed Narnia.
I also didn’t like how underscored Trumpkin was in the film. In the book, Trumpkin and Trufflehunter are one of the defenders of Prince Caspian, because they know he is well-intentioned, but Trumpkin remains to be a little wary of him because he’s a Telmarine. Instead, Trumpkin was never shown to interact with Caspian, except to actually attempt to attack him (which was not in the book, and I’m assuming was dreamt up by the writers for what reason I don’t know). It was uncharacteristic of Trumpkin. Next, there wasn’t enough of Trumpkin doubting whether Aslan existed, and whether he was really in the presence of the kings and queens of Narnia. I felt like this was another important part of the book that the writers missed.
Fourth, Prince Caspian himself. A few things: So I already talked about how his accent was unnecessary and bothersome, and how his premature blowing of the horn seemed to communicate a selfish Caspian rather than a Caspian looking out for the good of his army of Old Narnians. Another thing that bothered me is that Caspian was also made out to be less fit than he really was to be King of Narnia. In the book, it was written that he was well-learned in various things: archery, swordfighting, hunting, academia–in the film there is none of that. We have no way of relating as to how this boy can simply become King of Narnia only because it’s his birthright. It also made it seem like he was only imploring the Old Narnians for aid because it was his birthright to be King. Caspian never wanted to be King. In the book, the only reason Caspian feels like he needs to fight Miraz is because he sees the beauty of Old Narnia–its creatures, its dense forests full of magic, its history…Caspian as a child was always fascinated with Old Narnia, and to find out that his people (the Telmarines) were responsible for the decay of Narnia, to him was simply heartbreaking. He vows to protect the Old Narnians and restore Narnia to what it used to be. In the film, there is none of that. It only seems like Caspian wants to get the throne for himself, because of his birthright–a mistake that greatly affects viewers’ perception of Caspian.
Another thing the film made up that was not in the book was a rivalry between Prince Caspian and Peter. There was no such rivalry, and there’s a completely good reason why. Caspian was never a proud boy. He was always in awe of Narnia and how it used to be in the olden days. He was always fascinated by the stories of the kings and queens of Narnia. To have him challenge Peter is unbecoming of his character and it paints him to be a childish and proud person, not the humble, well-intentioned Caspian that C.S. Lewis painted him to be in the books. His character was underscored in the film because he was supposed to be in charge of the whole army before Peter comes along. His bravery spurred on the rest of the Old Narnians, until of course the very end, where we see Nikabrik plot to resurrect the White Witch, which then leads to the Pevensie children’s appearances. Instead, they make the Pevensie children responsible for the army’s choices in the film, something I felt totally changed the story. I really disliked Peter in the film, which is a lot to say because in the book, I admired Peter for being able to work cooperatively with Prince Caspian, even though he had been High King long ago. Instead, I saw Peter asserting his power and authority on Caspian, something I am absolutely certain C.S. Lewis did not intend in his writing.
Fifth, King Miraz and the Telmarines. They were well-cast, I will give them that. But once again, I detest how they were given accents, and I detest that their roles in the film were tragically altered. For instance, there were all these unnecessary and made-up scenes about Miraz pretending that Caspian was “abducted”. This is so stupid, because once again, it showed how much liberty the writers took with the book. Miraz was a cold-blooded usurper, simple as that. When it no longer became convenient for him to have Caspian around, he intended to dispose of him. They did not show that in the film. By not doing this, it did away with the sense of urgency in having Caspian flee from him. As for Miraz’s right hand men Glozelle and Prosepius (sp?), they were the better part of the film. Their betrayal was shown in the film, but there was also this strange fabrication by the writers to make Glozelle seem like he was a good character, rather than the haughty, power-hungry man that he was in the books. In the end, they make Glozelle one of the people to step through the portal back to the human world. Instead of the one who really betrays King Miraz.
One of my favorite characters from the Narnia series, the fearless Reepicheep!
Another thing that angered me, sixth, was the portrayal of the Old Narnians. I loved the part in the book when Prince Caspian goes around the forest collecting friends and allies in his battle. I loved meeting the bears, the squirrel Pattertwig, and of course, Reepicheep and the rest of the gang. However, there was none of this. What they did in the film was to have Caspian presented amid a throng of angry Old Narnians and then yelled at and jeered at like he was a fiend. It was wrong. It was a wrong scene because it painted the Old Narnians out to be unreasonable and jeering, not the friendly, lighthearted Narnians we know and love, that the book depicted. I felt that the importance of the ally-collecting scene with Caspian in the book is that it gave him the opportunity to interact with various creatures in Old Narnia, and to establish a rapport with them, so that they would feel like he was indeed their king and that he would fight for them. However, it just seemed like the Narnians were fighting to give Caspian his throne back and nothing else. It was a stupid scene, and I abhor it. I dislike that they ignored the giant’s role in the film, and the bears.
The Pevensie children were a huge disappointment for me. For me, this was Peter and Edmund’s time to shine. Edmund has a new personality in the book, because he knows better after being under the wiles of the White Witch. He knows to trust Lucy, because she was right before. Peter also is supposed to shine in the film because he was once again able to summon the courage of High King Peter and rally the Old Narnians behind him for Caspian. Instead, they were portrayed like ugly, irritable children. Peter was painted as a proud and stubborn leader–someone who would say it’s his way or the highway. He wasn’t supposed to be like that at all. The film painted Peter as someone who kept trying to shove his royalty down the Narnians’ throat, and he was absolutely not like that.
Susan takes aim at foes amid flight during a siege on King Miraz's castle that was never in the book.
Edmund, on the other hand, was good in the film–however, I felt he wasn’t given the credit he properly deserved. Edmund has a newfound wisdom that he seemed to lack in the earlier book. He is now much more mature and much more capable. Instead, we see yet another shadow of Peter. He was supposed to shine in the film, just as he did in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe. However, this was not so. Another thing that angered me was yet again another fabrication: Prince Caspian and Susan having some kind of romantic connection. First of all, it’s a good idea, but one that I felt they could have done away with and focused instead on the essential parts of the film. Instead, they added it in as some kind of afterthought. It seemed contrived, and to me it felt like Prince Caspian only snuggling up to Susan because she was a Queen. There was no back story at all–it just popped out of nowhere, much like the rest of the fabricated scenes in the film. Also, I think this is hilarious: Andrew Adamson probably responded to the criticism from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe of Susan not showing off her bow and arrow skills all that much. His response? Let’s overdo it! Have her shoot at anything that moves! It wasn’t as big of a deal as the film’s other crimes, but I felt like once again, this was something that distracted away from really delivering the story properly.
A scene that particularly angered me in the film was the totally fabricated scene that the writers made: Peter forces the army to stage a siege on King Miraz’s castle–something once again, not in the book and completely fabricated, and I don’t know why they did it, except perhaps to show off the special effects. This siege to me was extremely out of character for Peter, because it paints him to be an inexperienced king and a megalomaniac. He wasn’t. When he was High King, he and Edmund shared battle victories that C.S. Lewis made a point to mention in the book. The reason he mentioned it was to establish the kings and queens of Narnia as people who worked to get the esteem and glory they deserved. Instead, we have a different Peter, one who is bossy, arrogant and foolish. The siege is a disastrous part of the film because it is a radical departure in what Lewis intended, and it was a long scene, too, which could have been devoted to other things. In the scene, they show Caspian going into Miraz’s bedroom and wanting to kill him. This is WRONG and out of character. It angered me so much I wanted to vomit.
Another thing that upset me immensely was the escape from the siege. In it we are shown the offensive y the Old Narnians going disastrously awry and they have to retreat. The gate starts to close, Peter and the others escape but they leave behind some Old Narnians, who are trapped behind the gate and end up being slaughtered. To me, this was the most scandalous and gut-wrenching mistake that the writers made. It made out Peter and the Pevensies to be cold-hearted and stupid. Peter would never leave Narnian creatures to die like that, and he would have never suggested such a risky maneuver in the first place, because he as never one to consider risking lives okay. This decision sealed the deal for me that this movie was beyond salvation.
The Pevensie children are transported from the train station to a changed Narnia. From left to right: Skandar Keynes (Edmund), William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan) and Georgie Henley (Lucy).
Ben Barnes wields the sword of Prince Caspian
Last but not least, their interpretation of Aslan. Aslan was absent in the books for a reason. They did not convey this reason accurately in the film. The message that C.S. Lewis was trying to say with the book went largely missing in the film. Here, the religious undertones resurface, but perhaps that is why the writers completely avoided Aslan in the film, to avoid backlash from oh, atheists who feel like there had been too many Jesus references in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The reason Aslan was absent was because Narnia was no longer the place he had known. It was rife with evil from the Telmarines; once talking animals were now reduced to dumb creatures that devoured anything that moved. When the Pevensie children came, the reason Lucy was the only one who was able to see him was because she was the only one who truly believed he would come. It was a question of faith; Susan and Peter did not see Aslan because they were grown-up, and believed that to accomplish something, they had to rely on what they know is absolutely certain, and they had begun to doubt Aslan.
Here’s what I feel the overall story was in the book and should have been in the film: Prince Caspian was raised in a world of lies fed to him by his uncle, King Miraz. When Miraz attempts to kill him, he is forced to flee for his life. He discovers on his own that there is a world out there that exists and that Miraz had told him it was dead. He encounters the Old Narnians, who befriend him instead of demonize him. At first they are suspicious, but after he proves himself worthy, they befriend him. After listening to the Old Narnians, Caspian feels that Miraz and the Telmarines are committing a grievous thing by trying to erase Old Narnia. He is empowered and he feels like he needs to fight for them. He doesn’t want to be king, he just wants to protect Old Narnia. Old Narnians suggest that they should do battle to reclaim what’s theirs, and Caspian vows to do aid them because he loves Old Narnia and wants to defend it, not because he wants to ascend to the throne. In the midst of battle, due to harsh circumstances, Caspian is forced to call for help by sounding out Susan’s horn. The Pevensie children are summoned. They trek through unrecognizable land to find Caspian in order to aid him. However, they are puzzled as to why Aslan has not shown himself, as he had before. They are confused, afraid and unsure of themselves. However, when they learn that Narnia has been invaded by the Telmarines, and that their beloved friends have been subject to such hideous experiences, they vow to help Caspian to restore the Old Narnia. There is no power struggle between Caspian and Peter. Peter lends his help to Caspian as best he can, and Caspian feels nothing but reverence of a High King of Narnia who seems to be the same age as him but has achieved so much. The Narnians claim victory against the Telmarines, but only because they have a strong desire to restore Narnia to the beauty it once was. They are brought together not by the desire to crown Caspian, but to give the magical world back to the creatures who it belongs to. In the end, the reason Caspian is acknowledged by Aslan as a true king of Narnia is because he really does have a love of its creatures, and he has no desire to rule them, but simply to lead and protect them.
The spirit of Prince Caspian is one of love for the earth and all its creatures, cooperation and faith. There are themes of brotherhood, friendship, understanding and a desire to break through tyranny and restore peace. There’s nothing of the sort in the film, which is why I came out of the theater horrified and devastated.
In summation, I felt that the writers and the director took some extreme liberties with the film. They did not understand the characters properly, and they inserted scenes that were unimportant as well as destructive to the spirit of what C.S. Lewis intended of Narnia. I felt that the movie only served the purpose of blockbustering, and that it seemed like a totally different story, with simply the Narnia name slapped onto it. It was barely recognizable, indeed, and I felt betrayed. It’s the feeling one would get when someone, for instance, adapts The Catcher in the Rye, and it turns out be a movie like Mean Girls or something. It’s the same feeling one would get if say, The Lord of the Rings was horribly made by Peter Jackson. Only, Peter Jackson executed The Lord of the Rings perfectly. He understood The Lord of the Rings just like a real fan would, and he made sure that he did it justice. Andrew Adamson and his pathetic crew did nothing of the sort. They simply made a fan fiction version of the book and put in special effects and employed WETA work shop just to generate revenue. It was not the Narnia we fans know and love, and it is an unforgivably made film that I will never watch ever again.
I feel a huge sense of loss and devastation. Like I mentioned earlier, someone has defiled one of the best works of literature in history. It should not have been allowed, and it should not be tolerated. Unfortunately, the box office tells otherwise. Because the film will gross big at the box office, people will see this as a success, and people will forget that C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece had nothing to do with that film. I am angry and I feel cheated. Andrew Adamson, I hope you never make another Narnia film again.
So there.
In other news, the American Idol showdown between David Archuleta and David Cook will air tomorrow on Fox. Like Simon said, it’s going to be a humdinger. My money is on David Cook, but with the prepubescent little girls texting their thumbs off, I think it will be a close one, and a definite upset if David Archuleta wins. But then again, it might not be all that bad for David Cook if he doesn’t win the Idol title. That way, he’ll be taken more seriously.
