A year after their adventure in Narnia, the Pevensie siblings return but for Narnia it’s over a thousand years and it’s a much darker place than the one they remember. Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) wishes to destroy all Narnians and take the throne from its rightful heir, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), so the Pevensie’s and Caspian must join forces to save Narnia

Unlike The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which is perhaps one of the most faithful book to film adaptations yet, Prince Caspian does it’s own thing for the most part. However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing and personally I feel adding in more conflict between Peter (William Mosely) and Caspian adds more to Peter’s character.

What Prince Caspian does really well is show how difficult it was for the Pevensie’s going from grown adult Kings and Queens, to being children again. They’ve already grown up and had a life and then they’re back at the beginning again. Peter is clearly the one who struggles the most with this and puts other creatures’ lives on the line as he’s desperate to prove himself, even to his own siblings.

Ben Barnes does a good job at portraying Caspian as a young man who out of his depth and wants to do good without being self-righteous. The new Narnian characters are all a lot of fun and do well to fill the gap left by Mr Tumnus and the Beavers and help show how much has changed in Narnia since the Pevensie’s left. Peter Dinklage and Warwick Davis both play dwarfs, with Dinklage getting almost as much screen time as the Pevensie’s, while Eddie Izzard voices Reepicheap, a swashbuckling mouse.

While Prince Caspian deviates from the book, and is a much darker story than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there’s still the air of magic and hope about it. This comes from Andrew Adamson’s direction. It’s assured even in the big battle sequences and knowing how much of a rapport he built with the young actors playing the Pevensie children, Georgie Henley especially, it’s clear how he got such good performances from his young cast.

Prince Caspian shows the darker side on Narnia but also the good there is in people. The special effects, hair and makeup and costumes are still great and overall Prince Caspian is an action-packed adventure. Also, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) is still the MVP in my book.4/5.