Hurrah! Finally got to see Caspian!
Aug. 8th, 2008 10:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tree_and_leafI enjoyed it quite a lot, although
I do wonder why they made Peter such a complete and utter arsehole (not to mention an idiot). I mean, yeah, they're trying to deal with the Emotional Issues of suddenly being a child again, but honestly, thumping people because they jostled you on the Tube? That's not being upset because people are treating you like a child, that's being upset because you're not a special snowflake. And as for the way he carries on around Caspian - Peter, dear, the 'You don't belong here!!11!' card is not a classy one to play at the best of times, and it's particularly stupid when you're trying to use it when talking to someone who, whatever his ancestry, was born in that country and you're not even from that world. I'm not sure about the 'let's invade the castle strategy', though the major mistake was letting Miraz get away (I mean, really!). The arguing in front of the troops, however, is not just unattractively jealous, but indicates that he'd forgotten everything he ever knew about leadership. If you want to be treated like a grown up, it's not a bad idea to act like one, rather than a sulky emo teen with incipient testosterone poisoning.
I think, on reflection, what most annoyed me about Peter's characterisation was that, despite Aslan's statement at the end that he and Susan have learned all they can, there's not all that much evidence that he's learned very much (though I did like the scene after the confrontation with Unexpected Deep Freeze Jadis, where he sits staring at the image of Aslan).PhyllisSusan, on the other hand, is great, even when she's being a bit obnoxious at the start. I assume they're not planning to do 'The Last Battle', because I don't see how they can make the Susan arc work at all... she's very different from book! Susan, whose main problem has always struck me as being afraid, not so much of danger (she's brave enough at the Stone Table), but of not being in control and not being the sensible one with all the answers. She also dislikes hurting or disappointing people, but I'm not sure how this fits in, though it does explain how the mess in 'The Horse and his Boy' starts....
What is rather curious, if you know the book, is that Peter and Susan are so different from their book characterisations, whereas Edmund and Lucy are very firmly in it - even in the bits which the filmmakers have added; the observation that Cair Paravel has fallen by siege is not in the book (and it's never clear what actually happened in canon), but it's dead on that Edmund would work out what happened. Edmund's brilliant all round - sarcastic, clever, loyal, and showing an ability to learn from his mistakes (and remember what he knew about kinging, in all of which he differs from movie! Peter). Of course, the filmmakers have the problem that book-Peter is likable but ever so slightly boring, whereas both Edmund and Lucy are brilliant in different ways - and whatever you think of the 'problem of Susan', it makes her interesting. (Peter is the most one dimensional of all the children, and a lot less interesting than Caspian, for all they get about the same amount of page time).
Reepicheep was great, though I was weirdly disconcerted by his light-coloured fur; I was sorry I couldn't hear the original dialogue, as I can't quite imagine Eddie Izzard....
Miraz was great, charismatic in a nasty sort of way, and his scenes with Caspian have a sort of Claudius-Hamlet dynamic. Ben Barnes is hot, and I loved the scene where he can't kill Miraz (though really, I know the Telmarines are pirates, but that's a ridiculous setting to fight a judicial combat in, especially when you've got a nice big even field to play with).
Weta special effects are impressive, but very Weta-y (I kept expecting a troop of orcs to turn up on Caspian's side, possibly lead by Shagrat - now there's a crossover!), and the siege machines and eagles... no. We know you're good at those special effects, but please, no more eagles and no more really over the top siege weaponry flattening sights of historical interest.
The Telmarine political sub-plot was confusing; Sopsesian and Glozelle are the thugs who put Miraz on the throne in the book; here they start off looking as if they're going to be the Decent General (Rommel, if not Stauffenberg) to Miraz's Dictator of Dodgy Legality, but they keep reverting to being greedy and ambitious traitors. Though I admit I had difficulty with the accent, which struck me as not so much Spanish-accented German (at least, they didn't sound like my Spanish friend does when she speaks German!) as Imbissbudendeutsch; it's a bit disconcerting when Miraz and Caspian sound as if they're going to ask you if you want ketchup or mayo on your pommes...
The body counts a lot higher than in the book, I think - or at least an awful lot more Telmarines get drowned (in the book, they panic at being caught between the woods and water, and surrender); this does not bode well for Caspian's attempts to unify the country.
Aslan is mostly not there (Chronicles of Narnia 2: Waiting for Aslan?); so, oddly enough, is Lucy, who somehow comes over as being more passive than in the book, despite the 'riding off into the woods to find Aslan' plot point.
In summary: Ben Barnes is hot, Edmund is fantastic, and eagles are shockingly overused in modern fantasy films.
I do wonder why they made Peter such a complete and utter arsehole (not to mention an idiot). I mean, yeah, they're trying to deal with the Emotional Issues of suddenly being a child again, but honestly, thumping people because they jostled you on the Tube? That's not being upset because people are treating you like a child, that's being upset because you're not a special snowflake. And as for the way he carries on around Caspian - Peter, dear, the 'You don't belong here!!11!' card is not a classy one to play at the best of times, and it's particularly stupid when you're trying to use it when talking to someone who, whatever his ancestry, was born in that country and you're not even from that world. I'm not sure about the 'let's invade the castle strategy', though the major mistake was letting Miraz get away (I mean, really!). The arguing in front of the troops, however, is not just unattractively jealous, but indicates that he'd forgotten everything he ever knew about leadership. If you want to be treated like a grown up, it's not a bad idea to act like one, rather than a sulky emo teen with incipient testosterone poisoning.
I think, on reflection, what most annoyed me about Peter's characterisation was that, despite Aslan's statement at the end that he and Susan have learned all they can, there's not all that much evidence that he's learned very much (though I did like the scene after the confrontation with Unexpected Deep Freeze Jadis, where he sits staring at the image of Aslan).
What is rather curious, if you know the book, is that Peter and Susan are so different from their book characterisations, whereas Edmund and Lucy are very firmly in it - even in the bits which the filmmakers have added; the observation that Cair Paravel has fallen by siege is not in the book (and it's never clear what actually happened in canon), but it's dead on that Edmund would work out what happened. Edmund's brilliant all round - sarcastic, clever, loyal, and showing an ability to learn from his mistakes (and remember what he knew about kinging, in all of which he differs from movie! Peter). Of course, the filmmakers have the problem that book-Peter is likable but ever so slightly boring, whereas both Edmund and Lucy are brilliant in different ways - and whatever you think of the 'problem of Susan', it makes her interesting. (Peter is the most one dimensional of all the children, and a lot less interesting than Caspian, for all they get about the same amount of page time).
Reepicheep was great, though I was weirdly disconcerted by his light-coloured fur; I was sorry I couldn't hear the original dialogue, as I can't quite imagine Eddie Izzard....
Miraz was great, charismatic in a nasty sort of way, and his scenes with Caspian have a sort of Claudius-Hamlet dynamic. Ben Barnes is hot, and I loved the scene where he can't kill Miraz (though really, I know the Telmarines are pirates, but that's a ridiculous setting to fight a judicial combat in, especially when you've got a nice big even field to play with).
Weta special effects are impressive, but very Weta-y (I kept expecting a troop of orcs to turn up on Caspian's side, possibly lead by Shagrat - now there's a crossover!), and the siege machines and eagles... no. We know you're good at those special effects, but please, no more eagles and no more really over the top siege weaponry flattening sights of historical interest.
The Telmarine political sub-plot was confusing; Sopsesian and Glozelle are the thugs who put Miraz on the throne in the book; here they start off looking as if they're going to be the Decent General (Rommel, if not Stauffenberg) to Miraz's Dictator of Dodgy Legality, but they keep reverting to being greedy and ambitious traitors. Though I admit I had difficulty with the accent, which struck me as not so much Spanish-accented German (at least, they didn't sound like my Spanish friend does when she speaks German!) as Imbissbudendeutsch; it's a bit disconcerting when Miraz and Caspian sound as if they're going to ask you if you want ketchup or mayo on your pommes...
The body counts a lot higher than in the book, I think - or at least an awful lot more Telmarines get drowned (in the book, they panic at being caught between the woods and water, and surrender); this does not bode well for Caspian's attempts to unify the country.
Aslan is mostly not there (Chronicles of Narnia 2: Waiting for Aslan?); so, oddly enough, is Lucy, who somehow comes over as being more passive than in the book, despite the 'riding off into the woods to find Aslan' plot point.
In summary: Ben Barnes is hot, Edmund is fantastic, and eagles are shockingly overused in modern fantasy films.
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