Prince Caspian is the latest Narnia movie to be released in cinemas with the return of the Pevensie children, and Liam Neesons voice (as Aslan).  This time they have to share centre stage with Caspian the new King of Telmar, a neighbouring kingdom of Narnia.  The movie starts with the young Caspian in a 'Lord of the Rings' (LOTR) type flight on horseback for his life.  In fleeing Caspian discovers the world of 'Narnia', which he previously believed to be nothing but fable and fairy tale.  Here he finds in it's fascination with ideas of destiny, honour and good and evil, that all is not over for him and his career in Kingship.  Helped by the return of the Pevensie's to Narnia they raise up an army of Narnian's to provide some spectacular battles, perfect for movie audiences.

Personally I thought the previous Narnia release (the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) was so true to the content of the book that it was way too childreny for me.  I am probably a Narnia late bloomer.  I read the series for the first time in my twenties after working my way through the Tolkien LOTR series and The Hobit.  It is quite an easy transition from Middle Earth to Narnia.  We all know that Tolkien and Lewis were drinking buddies and shared a lot of ideas and concepts which appear in both of their works of fiction.  For example the idea of elements of nature (trees etc) having almost human characteristics, and moral standards, appears in both.  According to other Lewis works this began in his early grappling with a fascination with nature which he created in to a mythical world he called 'animal land'.

Well this Narnia production is much less cheesy and more appealing to lovers of the LOTR's movies.  From the early scenes it's quite apparent that the makers have learned something of how to turn a Tolkien/Lewis classic into a big box office hit, as Prince Caspian (like LOTR) is also filmed in the wonderful surroundings of New Zealand and has more than one scene mirroring some from the LOTR's trilogy.  So the drama unfolds, and there's the inevitable appearance of Aslan quite late on in the drama, drawn by the child like 'faith' of Lucy, arriving in time to crown their victory rather than do it all for them.  And that seems to be the 'point' of Aslan if I'm allowed to offer my opinion.  It's as though he provides the courage for the heroes to do what they're there to do, rather than win their victories for them.  One commentator I heard on radio described it saying Aslan just turn up at the end to take all the Glory without doing anything.  But that misses the point a bit I think.  Lewis was all about concepts of courage, chivalry and faith, more than about creating cool stories with unrealistic superhero type figures.  In this respect I think the Lion Witch and Wardrobe movie almost didn't work for adults being that it was too uncool.  But the makers have definitely discovered the style button with Prince Caspian, while also sticking to the story (although some may disagree) and come up with an enjoyable watch, limited to perhaps 1 or 2 cheesy bits.

For me this is a really good movie.  You have to see it to appreciate it.  This is a 10 out of 10 for me.