Prince Caspian: More like Prince Crapsian

Well I just got home from Prince Caspian - and I have to say I'm glad I went to the matinée. For $6.50, I was much less disappointed than I would have been if I'd paid full price.

Here's why.

There is no plot to speak of. Thanks to the trailers, we know basically all there is to know about this film - the kids are standing in a Subway when (SPOILER ALERT) suddenly and without cause they're whisked into Narnia.

Now supposedly Caspian uses the horn (the one he's holding in the ad to your right) when he's about to be captured by the Narnians - but from here all plausibility is thrown out the window and we're expected to eat it up.

C.S. Lewis would be spinning in is grave if he hadn't gone to Heaven (well, that's what he believed would happen so that's my presumption) - but in Heaven he and Tolkien are looking down and shaking their heads.

More reasons for stomach churning - now: Guess who saves the day at the end?
(SPOILER AGAIN). Can you recall the scene in The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers when the Ents come to the aid of the film's hodge-podge crew? Well, Aslan takes a similar approach to ending a battle between the Narnians and the Sons of Adam.

And remember the scene where Liv Tyler's character summons the power of the raging river to defeat her pursuers? Again, PC pulls the same move - using water (which looks uncannily like many modern day interpretations of Jesus Christ) to stop the bad guys.

It was sad to watch PC crap all over itself. I will admit that it was entertaining, but the lack of plot in these (and many other areas) left me disappointed and not at all looking forward to any follow-ups.

I will say that the film did a good job of injecting Lewis' hints at Christianity. Anyone who knows something about how faith is perceived by Christians (and practiced) will see the correlation to Lucy's faith in Aslan. Another plot hole here - Lucy says she saw Aslan for a moment (he is absent for most of the film), to which Peter replies that she couldn't have seen him.

The younger brother, Edmond, chirps that he won't make the mistake of mistrusting Lucy after the previous films' antics. However, that's where they stop - they don't listen to the girl and end up nearly getting caught.

Walden and Disney bury the return of Aslan so deeply in the film that there's no question as to whether or not he's going to step in - the only question is when and how. As an example of God/Aslan's will, the story is flawless. But for the sake of the movie, it makes things overly simple.

Maybe belief is that simple - and that was Lewis' point.