The execution of creative freedom in Prince Caspian, the second movie adapted from the Narnia books, is an interesting thing to dissect. Commonly, most audiences enjoy their films to be jam-packed with content. This is not a problem with most adaptations, as there is plenty of content within a book, but Prince Caspian was a relatively short book that got to the point of things quickly. With this in mind, I was not surprised that the movie added new content in order to stretch the runtime, but what did surprise me was that the content they added seems to be nothing but drama. Characters were aged for the movie, yet seemed to act less mature than their younger book counterparts. The movie followed the popular trends of the era’s action/adventure movies, and was likely due to the worry that the short book may have been consider too boring to be a movie, a sentiment I thoroughly disagree with. However, despite its changes to the characters the movie still upheld the same values that we saw in the first Narnia adaptation, as well as added in stunning visuals. While we will be focusing today on the rough transition of the book, I must say, on its own, the movie was still enjoyable. It is a shame that the chance given to add meaningful elements to the story for the movie was executed so poorly.
In all forms of story entertainment, subplots can be used to add length while also adding further value. While they typically add to a plot, there are some instances, such as this one, where I feel they subtracted from it. In most of C.S. Lewis’s writing, subplots are absent as he chooses to focus only on the main story, which means his novels end up shorter but more powerful. When the movie felt it needed more content, they added these in as subplots. One of them focuses on a romance between Susan and Caspian, and the other about the men of the novel proving themselves. And while both are good in theory, both took away from the focus of the original story. The romance seemed like an unnecessary fanservice, which diminished the extraordinary strength of Susan’s character and was executed like an afterthought. The pettiness and stupidity that Peter and Prince Caspian displayed throughout the movie were infuriating. Their immaturity is showcased in the ludicrous decision to storm the enemy’s castle near the climax of the film, where most of their troops die due to Peter and Caspian’s childish behavior. While the visual of Edmund flying over the castle after their defeat, seeing all their dead troops piled up by the gate, is immensely powerful, it only served as a distraction from the uncomplimentary decision. These particular subplots seemed such a waste of the creative freedom they were given in this movie, as they could have done so much more with what they were given. The directors wanted to focus more on the content they added than the original story, which led to an ending that did not tie together well and seemed incomplete.
The most extreme changes were those made to Prince Caspian and Peter, which resulted in a negative portrayal of the already beloved characters. The mature, knightly men were made childish, and even the loyal Narnians were portrayed as skeptical people. Caspian was rash and fueled by anger in the movie, while Peter was stubborn, jealous, and hot-headed. These are in stark contrast to the rational men we grew up within the books. The movie pitted them against each other, going as far as to make Peter Jealous of Caspians power. But in the original, these characters helped one another to achieve their mutual goals, encouraging each others growth
“And so is your Majesty,” said Peter. “I have not come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it.” C.S. Lewis, PG 395
This diminishment of such beloved characters was disappointing, especially for such a beloved story that they could have done so much with. The rivalry they introduced between these two main characters seemed to only serve the petty drama added purely for entertainment, rather than to add to the story. Changing such important characters goes beyond lengthening the story by adding content, but changes the story itself in a negative light.
While the two main men of the story were given an abundance of screentime, characters like Lucy, Susan, and Edmund were not given the same importance as in the book. The two girls had large, important roles in the novel, but seemed to fade into the background for most of the movie. In the orginal, the Pevensie’s would have never reached Caspian in time to help if it were not for Lucy, and they would never have had enough troops to win the battle. And Susan was pivotal in helping win over the Narnian’s trust and assisted in the gathering of troops for Caspian and Peter. In the movie, Lucy hardly leaves the Narnian’s “base-camp” and Susan seems to only serve a role as Caspian’s love interest. The inclusion of such strong female leads in the book was inspirational, but their diminishment in the movie only added to the growing stereotype that men are more important in action entertainment. These gender stereotypes fuel my belief that this movie turned the fantasy/adventure story I grew up with into an action/drama in hope that it would draw the eyes of people who did not grow up with the book. This heavily impacted the strength of the Narnian queens, who were strong independent characters with deep connections to the land, the people, and our hearts.
Another drastic change was that of the Narnian people themselves, which is shown immediately at the start of the film. In both the book and movie, Prince Caspian flees his usurper uncle to try and find the Narnian people. After fleeing, in the movie, Caspian is captured by them and forced to stand trial for the crimes of his people, whom the Narnian hate. In the book, a group of them help Caspian to rally the Narnian troops, gaining their trust and leading them as a king. And later, the Narnians help make the decision to blow the magical Narnian horn that calls the Pevensie’s back to their realm. They prepare for this arrival by sending messengers to all the places the Pevensie might arrive so they could be escorted back to Caspian. In the movie the Narnian horn was blown immediately when Caspian was first captured, further showcasing what little strategic choices were made by prominent characters in this movie. The skepticism of the Narnians was executed in poor taste, although there were a few Narnians that were put off by the Pevensies’ young age in the novel they were not nearly as judgemental and resentful as in the movie. The pure hatred that most of the Narnians had for prince Caspian diminished the victory that they had over the usurper, and at the end of the movie, it did not feel like Caspian had earned their trust or faith. The distrustful, shallow, unfaithful, and vengeful Narnians I saw in the movie did not remind me of the magical people that I grew up with. The beautiful world of Narnia that I was so excited to experience on the big screen again seemed slandered, its people darkened and ugly, not like the fantasy world I wished to have lived in.
These changes were not made for the benefit of the story, but solely for the lengthening of it and the entertainment of a modern audience. The petty, jealous, and annoying men were a disservice to the original characters. Even the world itself, darkened by bitter Narnians and graphic scenes made a lot of the movie quite unenjoyable. The story itself was less poignant while also more eye-catching, probably an attempt to catch the eyes of people not familiar with the original franchise. But this resulted in characters stepping out of themselves to make idiotic decisions to fuel unnecessary subplots. While it attempted to reach a new audience, it ended up losing loyal fans due to the drastic character changes. Although the movie was visually stunning, the potential was lost in all the added fluff, unfortunate subplots, and unnecessary character changes. I was anticipating so much more, especially considering how well they adapted the first Narnia film, but I was entirely disappointed. This movie had the potential to be as amazing of an adaptation as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but was lost in the execution of creative freedom by its overexcited directors.
Sources;
Lewis, C. S. Prince Caspian. Collins, 1998.
Cover art by Deys on Instagram
Editing by Jade Rabor
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