How Prince Caspian botches the meaning of the book

Want to know if Andrew Adamson’s Prince Caspian is fun and entertaining? Check out the reviews archived at Rotten Tomatoes.

But if you’re a fan of C.S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian, which is something quite different, and if you hope to see Lewis’s ideas come to life on the big screen in Adamson’s film, well... what follows is a collection of reviews that address thatquestion.

This collection will be updated as I find further interesting reviews on the subject. Feel free to submit more reviews, or even your own, in the comments below.

Before we get to the reviews —  here’s a note from a trusted moviegoing friend, Joel Clarkson, who is a big fan of C.S. Lewis. He writes:

During the credits tonight, after the midnight premiere, my sister turned to me and asked, “Tell me in one word what you thought of the movie.” I replied, “Letdown.” She fixed me with a glare that could shoot daggers from her eyes, and countered incredulously, “Heresy.” I reluctantly had to concede the point.

Later, over at ArtsandFaith.com, he wrote:

Throughout the film, the whole theme regarding the initially accepted skepticism, and then gradual appreciation for the actual existence of the four children, and even more consequently, Aslan himself, was significantly downplayed as a theme regarding faith and trust in the divine. Again in this movie, as in the first of the Narnia films, Aslan appears at the end of the movie, reprising his role as the alternating WMD for the good guys, and converse best buddy of Lucy. The film practically throws away the crucial central theme in the book, regarding how Aslan had worked throughout the story in the lives of the protagonists, and that their worries were quelled, and even reproved by Aslan, because of his omnipotence and love for his own.

…

I had the nagging feeling the whole movie, which was confirmed when I read Andrew Adamson’s recent remarks, that Adamson probably resented the spiritual themes in Lewis’ books, and in all likelihood saw them as a hindrance to the story. Unlike Peter Jackson, with the Lord of the Rings enterprise, there was no respect for the subject material, or the author’s intent in Caspian.

Is Joel just being nit-picky?

Many reviewers are celebrating Prince Caspian for being entertaining. Some point out that the novel really wasn’t Lewis’s best work, and might not have made a compelling movie. Some are immediately embracing Adamson’s movie because it has C.S. Lewis’s name on it, and they’re rejoicing that it has a general “pro-faith” (but which faith?) storyline.

But let’s listen to some of the reviewers who have taken the time to notice just how far the filmmakers went in stripping away the meaning that Lewis carefully wove through the story...