Here's my brief review: Prince Caspian is better than the book. It's been years since I read it, so I'll leave Card to explain why. They took a major risk with this movie, which is that they strayed significantly from the book by adding major scenes that did not exist in the source material. Most notably, there is a major, huge battle scene that is completely absent from the book, but fits seamlessly into the story and adds an amazing amount of depth and character development. Now I'm going to do something daring: I will dare to say that I enjoyed this battle scene better than I enjoyed Helm's Deep from The Two Towers, and even the Battle of the Pelennor Fields from Return of the king. The battle is more dynamic than Helm's Deep (and doesn't feature an elf surfing on a shield), and the action doesn't take up as much of the movie as Pelennor, and isn't bailed out conveniently by an invincible army of ghosts. It's close, though, they're all great battles.
SPOILER ALERT!!
Scroll past this if you haven't seen the movie yet. I'll let you know when it's safe again!
My favorite parts: The buildup to the castle raid is very cool, but the part where Peter realizes that the battle is lost and calls retreat is very moving. The shot where he is torn between leaving behind captured allies and saving those that he can is particularly powerful.
I also really liked when Lucy finally meets with Aslan, and he asks why she let the disbelief of her siblings keep her from coming to him before. The duel between Peter and Miraz really effectively shows why in real life you can't negotiate with an enemy whose stated goal is your destruction. Very good scene applicable to modern politics.
OK, NO MORE SPOILERS HERE!
I have another comment about my experience watching Prince Caspian. What is wrong with people in Rexburg? I have never been to a place with ruder audience behavior. In this case, until I gave them a look, the people behind me were talking quite loudly through the first few minutes of the movie. Others were talking, too, but were out of glare range. Even more annoying was that every single time Prince Caspian made an entrance, there was applause, and whooping. As soon as one person would give a whoop, dozens would decide it's cool and they should do it, too. At one point there was a mouse on a stretcher carried by other mice, and people started laughing because it was "cute," and a guy in the front yelled, "stop laughing, it's not funny!" He sounded genuinely offended.
I'd let it go if this were a unique experience. However, it has been a problem at nearly every event I have been to in Rexburg, and very few I've been to in other places. The worst was last semester, when I was at a Trombone recital. The couple next to me were a few seats down, and the entire time they were listening to their iPod, which could be faintly heard by half the audience between performances. I actually told them afterward that it was the rudest thing I'd ever seen at a concert. Part of the problem is FA100, which I think does more harm than good. That doesn't explain Prince Caspian, though. Why does Rexburg applaud at the end of every movie? No one involved in the movie is there, so I don't get it. I've heard similar complaints from a couple friends, who are annoyed at Rexburg audiences. Ok, rant over!
Now, on to Children of Men. I had seen previews for this and it looked interesting, but it was Bro. Ben Jordan who recommended it to me. I now have a new movie tied with my previous favorite movies: Serenity and Fight Club. This is better than Fight Club, but tied with Serenity, I think.
The concept is this: The year is 2027, and for the past 18 years, for unknown reasons, no woman in the world has become pregnant. The movie opens with a news report in a café that says that the world's youngest person had been stabbed to death at 18 years old. It's a really dismal picture of the future, rampant terrorism, huge influxes of illegal immigrants fleeing countries that have fallen into total chaos as everyone loses hope and sees the end of humanity looming.
The point of the movie, though, is not to say that the future is hopeless, but that there can be hope no matter how bad things are. Theo (Clive Owen) is charged with the task of smuggling the only pregnant girl, Kee, out of England and into the hands of an independent group that will protect her. If any of half a dozen warring factions realize she exists, she is in danger of being killed or used as political leverage.
The story is amazing, the acting is incredible (I absolutely love Michael Caine as the hippie hermit), and I have a new favorite director: Alfonso Cuarón. He replaced the incompetent Chris Columbus in directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the first good Harry Potter movie after two horrible ones. In Children of Men, he has created a genuine masterpiece. There's quite a lot of CGI, but 99% of it is completely unnoticeable. There are two very long action sequences that are done perfectly with a single shot. One of these involves Theo making his way on foot through an intense battle zone to find Kee, who has been kidnapped. The art direction is superb. The effects aren't distracting, and future technology doesn't take over the show.
The film is rated R, and definitely earns it with very realistic violence and language. It's not senseless violence and language like you'd expect in a movie who's intent is to offend, this movie's intent is to depict as realistic a world as possible, and it succeeds. There is brief nudity for about two seconds as Kee reveals that she's pregnant, but it is not intended to be at all sexual or provocative. The movie would work without this scene, but it's there and is appropriate to the situation. This is a movie that is not rated R to say "this is going to be a fun offensive film!" but to say "children won't get anything out of this, don't bring them; but it is a very powerful film for those who are ready for a deep, important story."
This movie is a powerful message of hope in the face of despair. Every single thing goes wrong at every point, and Theo doesn't even want to be a hero, but he goes on anyway because he's all there is. It is also a warning about radical views taking power. The message is intended to criticize conservative views such as anti-immigration, but as usually happens when a liberal who is very smart makes a movie, they accidentally hit on real truth and only think they've criticized conservatism. The world shown in this film is supposed to be what happens if Bush/Blair-types ruin everything, but is in reality what will happen if no one takes a stand against evil. The politics of the movie are complex. This is one of the most moving films I've ever seen, and is now tied with Serenity at the top of the list of movies I think everyone should see. I may in the future make an edited version without the brief nudity for anyone who would otherwise watch it except for that.
Whew, a long post! Got through it.
