The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 American high fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Liam Neeson, and Tilda Swinton reprise their roles from the first film, while new cast includes Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Eddie Izzard, Warwick Davis, Ken Stott, and Vincent Grass. In the film, the four Pevensie children return to Narnia to aid Prince Caspian in his struggle with the "secret" help of Aslan for the throne against his corrupt uncle, King Miraz. The film was released on May 16, 2008 in the United States and on June 26, 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Prince Caspian, a British-American production, is the last Narnia film to be co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, as 20th Century Fox became the distributor for the next film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Work on the script began before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released, so filming could begin before the actors grew too old for their parts. Director Andrew Adamson wanted to make the film more spectacular than the first, and created an action sequence not in the novel. The Narnians were designed to look wilder as they have been hiding from persecution, stressing the darker tone of the sequel. The filmmakers also took a Spanish influence for the antagonistic race of the Telmarines. Filming began in February 2007 in New Zealand, but unlike the previous film, the majority of shooting took place in Central Europe, because of the larger sets available in those countries. To keep costs down, Adamson chose to base post-production in the UK, because of recent tax credits there.
The film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing over $141 million in the United States and Canada and $278 million in the rest of the world. It received mostly positive reviews from film critics; however, some took issue with the portrayal of all the heroes having British accents while the villains are Spanish in appearance and inflection. The film became 2008's 10th highest-grossing film worldwide.
Plot[]
In Narnia, almost 1,300 years after the Pevensie siblings (King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy) left Narnia and returned to their world, Caspian, a Telmarine prince, is awakened by his mentor, Doctor Cornelius. Doctor Cornelius informs Caspian that his aunt has just given birth to a son and that his life is now in grave danger. Cornelius gives him Queen Susan's ancient magical horn and instructs him to use it if he is in dire need. Knowing that his Uncle Miraz would kill him to be king, Caspian flees. Chased by several Telmarine soldiers, Caspian falls from his horse and encounters two Narnian dwarfs and a talking badger in the woods. One of the dwarfs, Trumpkin, is captured by the soldiers after sacrificing himself to save Caspian. The other dwarf, Nikabrik, and the badger, Trufflehunter, save Caspian. Not knowing they are trying to save him, Caspian blows the magical horn, trying to summon help.
In England, after one year has passed in their world since they left Narnia, the four Pevensie children wait at the Strand tube station for their train, which will take them to boarding school. Just as the train pulls into the station, the station tears apart, and they are transported back to Narnia. There, they discover their castle, Cair Paravel, was attacked and ruined in their absence. The Pevensies save a bound and gagged Trumpkin, who is about to be drowned, and they set out together. Lucy sees Aslan trying to show them a safe path but finds her siblings unable to see him. She later manages to contact Aslan in a dream, but only Edmund believes her.
Meanwhile, Nikabrik and Trufflehunter lead Caspian to the Dancing Lawn, where all the old Narnians have assembled. Caspian convinces them to help him win his throne. Caspian and his troops encounter the Pevensies and Trumpkin, and they journey together to Aslan's How, a huge underground hall built over the Stone Table. Lucy wants to wait for Aslan, but Peter decides they have waited long enough and suggests attacking Miraz's castle. Caspian and the Pevensies infiltrate the castle at night with the intent of opening the gates for the Narnian army, but Caspian, learning that Miraz is responsible for his father's death, confronts his uncle and compromises the attack. The attack fails because of Caspian's actions, and many Narnians are killed due to Peter's recklessness.
Nikabrik and a werewolf tell Caspian that there is a way he can claim revenge. When Caspian agrees, a hag uses black sorceryto summon the White Witch. From inside a wall of ice, the spirit of the Witch tries to convince Caspian to give her a drop of his blood to resurrect her. The spirit of the Witch attempts to convince Peter to do the same. Edmund, Trumpkin, and Lucy arrive and kill the rogues. Edmund shatters the wall of ice before the Witch can be resurrected.
Seeking redemption, Peter challenges Miraz to a one-on-one duel to buy Lucy time to find Aslan. Peter wounds Miraz and gives his sword to Caspian to finish him off. Caspian spares Miraz's life but says he intends to return Narnia to its people. Lord Sopespian, one of Miraz's generals, kills Miraz with an arrow and blames the Narnians, igniting a massive battle between the Narnians and the Telmarines. Lucy, meanwhile, has found Aslan in the woods; he awakens the trees, and the whole forest suddenly attacks the Telmarines. Lord Sopespian orders the retreat, only to be confronted by Lucy and Aslan. Aslan summons a river god, who wipes out most of the Telmarine army, including Sopespian; the surviving Telmarine soldiers surrender to the Narnians.
Caspian becomes the King of Narnia and, with Aslan's help, brings peace between the Narnian and Telmarine kingdoms. Before the Pevensies depart, Peter and Susan reveal that Aslan has told them they will never re-enter Narnia again since they have learned all they can from Narnia, but Lucy and Edmund might still come back. The Pevensies return to England, leaving Caspian as King of Narnia.
Cast[]
- Pevensies:
- William Moseley as Peter Pevensie. In a departure from the novel, Peter has a rivalry with Caspian. Moseley explained, "Peter's got his own issues to deal with, and Caspian's got his own issues to deal with, and when neither is willing to compromise, there's bound to be friction. Peter came back to Narnia expecting to be king again and that everyone would do as he said, and Caspian is unwilling to let him take over, so that causes some of it. That's really what happens. And it's a lot about humility. I think they both have to learn a certain humility [...] and that's really what a great king needs is to be humble, to listen to his people, to be willing to compromise, and they start off as these sort of angry teenagers, and become kings at the end." In real life, the two actors got on well together. Moseley also stated that he identified with Peter, having gone back to school between shooting both films. He trained for three months in New York City to improve his performance and his physicality.
- Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie, the second oldest Pevensie. Popplewell had been disappointed she barely used her bow and arrows in the first film. Adamson convinced Douglas Gresham to have her present during the battles by suggesting her passive role in the novel indicated Lewis' view of women before he met Joy Gresham. "I think [Lewis] cast women down in the earlier books, but when you look at The Horse and His Boy, it has a strong female character. Doug's mother was a strong woman." Adamson also chose to have her fall for Caspian, because "The kids are growing up. If you look at Ben and you look at Anna, it seems really implausible that they wouldn't have some feelings for each other." He knew it had to be "sensitively handled" though, and ultimately it is not about romance, but "[accepting] the fact that you can have a wondrous experience, enjoy it and move on". Popplewell added that it would not make sense for the Narnians not to use Susan, a talented archer, in battle, and that the romance contributed to her character's reconciliation with losing Narnia in the first place.
- Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, the second-youngest Pevensie. Edmund matured during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so the writers saw him "as our Han Solo", "[doing] the right thing" and "probably going to be a little low-key about it", highlighting the immaturity of his older brother. Keynes bruised his heel when performing a stunt where he jumped onto a horse. He narrowly missed landing on it and hit his foot against a column when holding on. Excepting that, he enjoyed performing the action.
- Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie. Henley acknowledged Lucy represents faith in the story, being the youngest and therefore most open-minded of the Pevensies. During filming, Henley's baby teeth were falling out, so she wore fake teeth to fill in the gaps.
- Telmarines:
- Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian X. Adamson said "Caspian is a coming-of-age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance." Andrew Garfieldauditioned for the role, but was passed up for not being "handsome enough" according to his agent. Nicholas Hoult also auditioned. While in the novel Caspian as a 13-year-old child, in the film he is a 15-year-old adult young man. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two and a half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting. Barnes modelled his Spanish accent on Mandy Patinkin's performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, though he also had a dialect coach aiding him.Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies. When cast, Barnes was set to tour with the Royal National Theatre's production of The History Boys: producer Mark Johnson joked Barnes "probably isn't the Nation's favourite actor right now". Barnes left England without telling the Theatre. They were furious when they found out that he had left them without permission, so they considered suing him for breach of contract, but decided against it.
- Sergio Castellitto as King Miraz. Castellitto was not familiar with the novel, but his four children had enjoyed the first film. Miraz marks the first time the Italian actor has portrayed a villain, and he found it interesting to "act out a stereotype." Nonetheless, he also felt that he and Adamson brought depth to the role, explaining Miraz is a soldier, not a coward, and that he takes the throne for his son. He compared the character to King Claudius in Hamlet.
- Pierfrancesco Favino as General Glozelle, Miraz's military commander, who plots with Sopespian to have his king killed in combat with Caspian and Peter in order to lead his own attack on the Narnians. However, in the end, Glozelle repents and is the first to volunteer to go into the Pevensies' world, and in return, is granted a good future by Aslan. This was Favino's idea, because originally Glozelle would have died in battle. Adamson dubbed the character "a real Benedict Arnold". Favino is able to speak several languages and generally acted as a translator to Adamson on set while working with actors and crew members of multiple nationalities.
- Damián Alcázar as Lord Sopespian. "In some ways Sopespian turns out to be the real bad guy of the film", Adamson said. "Where it seems that Miraz has the upper hand at the beginning, we see that Sopespian, like Shakespeare's Iago, is trying to manipulate the situation". Alcázar was originally offered the role of Miraz, but once the filmmakers were informed that his little height would prevent him from intimidating Barnes' taller Caspian, Adamson decided to cast him as Sopespian, promising him to still give him a larger role.
- Vincent Grass as Dr. Cornelius: Caspian's mentor, who is half-dwarf. Adamson compared Caspian and Cornelius's relationship to Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Cornelius's role in the movie is significantly smaller than in the novel, and he is not named on screen, being referred to only as "Professor".
- Alicia Borrachero as Queen Prunaprismia. Prunaprismia was Miraz's wife. When she had learned that her husband had killed his own brother, she became heartbroken. After Miraz's death, Prunaprismia was the second volunteer to go back to our world (with her child). Because of her repenting, Prunaprismia and her child were promised a good life back in our world.
- Simón Andreu as Lord Scythley.
- Predrag Bjelac as Lord Donnon.
- David Bowles as Lord Gregoire. He served as one of the marshals during the duel between Peter and Miraz.
- Juan Diego Montoya Garcia as Lord Montoya.
- Narnians:
- Liam Neeson reprises his role as the voice of the lion Aslan. Aslan is "more parental here, [he] lets the kids, well, make their own mistakes". Aslan's entrance was filmed as a dream sequence to emphasize his messianic nature, and not make it reflect badly on his absence when Narnia is in turmoil. Although the character is considered C.S. Lewis' version of Jesus, Neeson "see[s] him more as the spirit of the planet—this living, breathing planet. That's what he stands for, for me; more what the native Americans would believe." As Aslan has fewer action scenes than in the first film, the animators found it difficult to make him move interestingly. His pose had to be regal, but if he moved his head too much, he would remind viewers of a dog. As well as having his size increased by fifteen percent, Aslan's eyes were also changed to look less "Egyptian". Many of his shots were finished at the last minute.
- Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, a cynical red dwarf. Dinklage was Adamson and Johnson's first choice, having seen him in The Station Agent. He accepted because "often, you get the hero and the villain and not much in between. Trumpkin is in between. He is not a lovable Snow White dwarf. Audiences appreciate these cynical characters. It helps parents and adults to go along with the journey." Dinklage's prosthetics took three hours to apply, and restricted his performance to his eyes. Even his frown was built into the make-up. On his first day of filming, he was bitten by sand flies and fell into a river. "We were lucky that he returned after his first day!" recalled Johnson.
- Warwick Davis as Nikabrik, a black dwarf. He is a descendant of Ginarrbrik, who served the White Witch, and bears one of his rings, which was passed down from each generation. Mark Johnson acknowledged casting Davis as the treacherous Nikabrik was casting against type: Berger covered all his face bar his eyelids in prosthetics, to allow Davis to ward off the audience's perceptions of him. Nikabrik's nose was based on Berger. Davis feared filming in the Czech Republic, because the grass is filled with ticks, so he put elastic bands to hold his trousers against his legs. Davis portrayed Reepicheep in the 1989 BBC production of Prince Caspian.
- Ken Stott as the voice of Trufflehunter the badger. Adamson called Trufflehunter "a walking and talking Narnian library [who is] totally old-school". The animators visited a badger sanctuary to aid in depicting his performance.
- Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep, a swashbuckling mouse. Over 100 actors auditioned to voice the character.Izzard approached Reepicheep as less camp and more of a bloodthirsty assassin with a sense of honour (a cross between Mad Max and a Stormtrooper from Star Wars): Izzard interpreted Reepicheep as someone whose family was killed by the Telmarines. The Narnia series were some of the few books Izzard read as a child, and she cherished them. When discussing Reepicheep with the animators, Adamson told them to rent as many Errol Flynn films as possible. Adamson credits Izzard for making the role her own; beforehand, the director was approaching the character similarly to Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.
- Cornell John as Glenstorm the Centaur. Adamson had seen John perform in Porgy and Bess in London, and liked his long face. John imagined the character as being 170 years old, and wanted to convey "honour, pride and tradition".
- Lejla Abbasová as Windmane (Glenstorm's wife).
- Yemi Akinyemi as Ironhoof (Glenstorm's son).
- Carlos Da Silva as Suncloud (Glenstorm's son).
- Ephraim Goldin as Rainstone (Glenstorm's son).
- David Walliams as the voice of the Bulgy Bear.
- Klara Issova as a Narnian Hag who attempts to resurrect the White Witch. She used some Arabic words in her incantation.
- Gomez Mussenden (son of costume designer Isis Mussenden) plays Lightning Bolt, a child Centaur.
- Jan Pavel Filipensky as Wimbleweather the giant.
- Shane Rangi as Asterius, an elderly minotaur who aids Caspian. Josh Campbell provides the voice for the character. Asterius is killed during the raid while holding the gate open to allow some of the army to escape. Rangi also stood in for Aslan, the Bulgy Bear, the werewolf, another minotaur, and the wild bear on set. Rangi played General Otmin in the previous film and Tavros in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. He was able to see more in the redesigned animatronic minotaur heads, though "in order to make the eye line straight and correct, you've actually got to hold your head down, so your view is only about a foot and a half in front of you, which still makes it a little bit hard". This resulted in Rangi knocking himself against the rising gate of the Telmarine castle, although he was fine and it was the animatronic head that bore the brunt of the damage. The costumes were still very hot, reducing him to a "walking waterfall". Although a head sculpt of Aslan was used to stand in for the character on the first film, Rangi had to portray the character on set because Lucy interacts with him more. Rangi lost four kilograms wearing all his costumes. Rangi also portrayed the werewolf, and he was the physical stand-in for Aslan, the Bulgy Bear, and the wild bear.
- Cameos
- Tilda Swinton reprises her role as Jadis, the White Witch. Her ghost appears as the hag and werewolf attempt to resurrect her. Swinton and her two children also cameoed towards the film's end as centaurs.
- Harry Gregson-Williams (the film's composer) as the voice of Pattertwig the squirrel, as Adamson felt he had a "squirrel-like energy".
- Douglas Gresham as a Telmarine crier.