CASPIAN! Awesome movie....bad theater experience....

[J-Proof]

Hey Guys! I saw the advanced screening of Prince Caspian and I have to say, I thought it kicked metaphorical ass over the first movie.

The movie didn't stay as true to the book plot-wise as "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe," but I found the cinematography to be much better, the dialogue was amazing despite the need to appeal to children, the themes of the book were all still there and presented rather artistically, and the cg was used the right way (as opposed to Phantom Menace style cg). Edmund, whose ginger-kid-but-not style had invoked my wrath in the first film, totally manned up in the sequel, and balanced the aura of pansy-ass-I-don't-know-how-to-hold-my-sword-ness that Peter just can't seem to shake off from the first film. And of course! Reepicheep was absolutely AWESOME. Eddie Izzard voices him perfectly... and look out for his intro scene! It's like a scene from Ridley Scott's ALIEN!!! SOOOO BAD ASS

Okay, so as for the second half of my rant... the folks that I went with (alright maybe just one of them) were less than enjoyable... I drove up to Irvine from San Diego to see the flick because my journalist friend reserved a seat for me and she's pretty awesome. However, two other guys were there also at her invite, and one of these two was the source of my angst... Immediately following the movie, I spewed out my impulsive "TeH AWEsomE!!" and at first, none of my companions agreed.

This doesn't bother me if the reasoning is decent. My journalist friend said she didn't appreciate added character elements, like Caspian and Susan kissing at the end since it didn't happen in the book. I could understand that. And after I prodded, she acknowledged the fact that the movie was a lot of fun, and that the major themes and overall story of the book were totally there, and that the film was indeed awesome. The other two guys, however, are IT support-desk employees....

I told them I didn't mind Susan kissing Caspian because if /I/ were Caspian, it wouldn't have taken me that long - besides, who cares? And I explained that I could see why events were switched up the way they were because it just had to be that way for the movie to be more exciting (like including the White Witch in the movie to help illustrate the temptation of turning to evil for help). But HOLY CRAP - one of those guys let me have it... I guess I'm just a retarded average American for enjoying the movie... I guess I'm just a moron for thinking that the "integrity of CS Lewis' work" wasn't completely insulted by the film! My gosh... why have I not met one single IT support guy that is likeable? (okay I'm exaggerating cuz Legend Films' guy in the back is pretty cool - and our school's former IT guys was pretty cool too).

But sheesh! Maybe if you didn't treat people like uneducated morons all the time, things in Disney movies like a boy actually KISSING a girl (eeeeeew!!!) wouldn't be so unbearable to you! IT SUPPORT PEOPLE - PROVOKE NOT MY WRATH!!!!!!!

[Tripe]

General release on Friday.

[Fortis]

I'm going to the midnight premiere of this here in Vegas in...3 hours. I'll post my review after.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

heh i hate that crap j-proof.  People like that need to be locked in cellars.  If you prefer the book that much GO READ THE BOOK its impossible to recreate everything the way its supposed to be end of story.  Glad you liked it.   Personally i feel prince caspian was a more movie friendly book anyways.  they are gonna have one heck of a time with the last battle though. 

[Bob]

I guess your friend was wanting a 12 hour movie that hit on EVERYTHING in the book and all the characters looked and sounded like they exist in his head. 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

No Tom Bombadil?  WTF??  Seriously, sounds like the complaints people had about the Lord Of The Rings films.  A movie isn't the same thing as a book, folks, you have to lose some stuff.

As far as your slam on IT people, well, I'd take it personally since I work in that field but you're right for the most part.  Most of them are pretty arrogant.

[J-Proof]

No Tom Bombadil?  WTF??  Seriously, sounds like the complaints people had about the Lord Of The Rings films.  A movie isn't the same thing as a book, folks, you have to lose some stuff.

As far as your slam on IT people, well, I'd take it personally since I work in that field but you're right for the most part.  Most of them are pretty arrogant.

That's the thing... I asked what he thought of LotR, and he loved em - ALL of em..... I promptly laughed in his face.... Not b/c I thought they were bad movies, but b/c of his double standards

[Bob]

You ragging on people in the IT field?    Why, I have half a nerve to come down there and re-configure your copy control routines so that your customers only get STANDARD orders in SAP and not RUSH orders.   That will teach you.   

(maybe not as threatening as Jet Lei with combat swords, but you get the idea).

[doggans]

Reepicheep was absolutely AWESOME.

Amen. I don't know how I feel about all the changes, or the execution of some minor things, but the absolute perfection of Reepicheep renders everything else moot.

[wurwolf]

We saw the movie yesterday afternoon. Overall, I enjoyed it but a few things did bug me.

First of all, I never liked Reepicheep in the books and the movie did nothing to win me over to him. But that's a good thing -- he stayed true to character. It probably would have been disappointing to Reepicheep fans if they had changed him. And I agree, J-Proof, his introductory scene was awesome!

I think the thing that bothered me the very most about the movie was the insipid song at the end. What is this, a fucking music video?! Susan and Peter are saying they can never return to Narnia, Lucy is hugging Trumpkin goodbye and saying goodbye to Aslan, and THEY PLAY A LAME SARA MACLACHLAN-TYPE SONG!!! ARRRRGH! Seriously, it ruined the whole movie for me and for my family. All four of us were sitting there like, WTF? Ew! It was like they totally shit all over the ending.

I was sorry they didn't play up the waking of the wood nymphs and the river naiads more. Aslan waking them was one of my favorite parts in the book, as well as the kick-ass party they all had afterwards. The river god was sweet, though. I had tears in my eyes during that whole scene.

I also wish they had done more with the scene in Aslan's How with the werewolf and the hag. I thought there were a lot more of them (and I thought the minotaurs were bad guys, although they did kind of allude to that when they said in the beginning that it's anyone's guess which side they'd join), but I guess budget constraints held back on how many of them they could have there. But Tilda Swinton totally brought it again -- she stole the show in her brief scene as the witch. She's awesome.

As for the stuff I did like, I loved the cinematography and the battle scenes, especially the scene where the ground collapses beneath the Telmarines. That was really cool. The catapults in action were great, too, as was the scene where the trees begin to move and fight. Aslan's appearances made me cry, and Peter Dinklage was superb! He was wonderful as the DLF. And Prince Caspian's hotness is bullet-proof, even if everyone's accents were all over the place. Also, did anyone else giggle when they put the crown on Miraz's head? Onil said, "Burger King!"

I do wish they had stayed more true to the book but I understand why they didn't and it's okay. I think people who complain about that sort of thing are only doing it to make themselves look better, like they're special because they read the book. It's a weird kind of bragging thing. I liked the movie overall, despite the liberties they took with it. I feel like I know the story from the book, and the extra things they put in the movie added to the book rather than detracted from it. Kind of like Prince Caspian v2.1.

[Tripe]

My thoughts here

[anais.jude]

I really disliked the film. Now, I'm not a huge fan of the books so I was okay seeing certain changes. I enjoyed all the elements that really made the film a christian allegory, such as Lucy being the only one to see Aslan, therby casting doubt in the others faiths. And the scene with white witch was good too, because it showed Peter's hopelessness and Edmund's maturity.
Buuuuuuut, a lot of scenes were thrown in randomly and a majority of the second half didn't make sense.
So, all the Telmarines want to overthrough evil uncle, but then one of the Telmarines kills evil uncle, not because Caspian refuses to do it mind you, because he wants a war....why exactly?


as for
the kiss. It would have worked if the reason Susan and Peter are too old for Narnia is because they are hittin maturity (Susan was totally hot BTW) but one simple non-chemistry kiss does not sexual feelings make. Plus what has Peter done to discover he is too old for Narnia?

The cinematography was way better though

[Tripe]

So, all the Telmarines want to overthrough evil uncle, but then one of the Telmarines kills evil uncle, not because Caspian refuses to do it mind you, because he wants a war....why exactly?

That was one of Ann's main quibbles with the film. She's not read the books so was simply judging it as a narrative.

[a pretty girl is like]

I really disliked the film. Now, I'm not a huge fan of the books so I was okay seeing certain changes. I enjoyed all the elements that really made the film a christian allegory, such as Lucy being the only one to see Aslan, therby casting doubt in the others faiths. And the scene with white witch was good too, because it showed Peter's hopelessness and Edmund's maturity.
Buuuuuuut, a lot of scenes were thrown in randomly and a majority of the second half didn't make sense.
So, all the Telmarines want to overthrough evil uncle, but then one of the Telmarines kills evil uncle, not because Caspian refuses to do it mind you, because he wants a war....why exactly?

I think what they were going for was to show the culture of treachery rampant in the Telmarine court.   It was actually one of the better things I liked.  You kill one usurper of the throne, use his death to rally a now leaderless army becoming its de facto commander in a moment of confusion and anger and then kill the rightful king because technically your army still vastly outnumbers the Narnians.  But yeah, it was handled clumsily.

[NinjaComic]

I never read the books, but there were huge problems with this movie.  The CGI was just on par with what they are doing today.  The acting was only adequate.  Eddie Izzards character was the best bit and I found his dialogue to be incongruous with the setting. How about the completely hypocritical kids killing some folks and not killing others for completely arbitrary reasons.  If that is the underlying theme to the book, no wonder Christians love it.  They have always been fairly bloodthirsty and then morally superior for no understandable reason.  I got the first Narnia movie on a bargain bin table and won't take this one even as a gift.