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prince caspian

this was a busy weekend for me, and it's not over yet.
here's what happened....
thursday: school, bake muffins, anna's bday dinner, genesis, prince caspian at midnight!
friday: field day at school, shopping, game night, slumber party with the jgroup (i only lasted 1 hr...)
saturday: breakfast w/ jgroup, graduation, prince caspian with my class (yes, i did go see it with my 5th graders), brittany's bday dinner, sleep
sunday: coffee w/ lindsay b/c she's moving, church (i didn't stay there either....), shopping at school box and wally world, reunion tonight, then lots of school work

although i am worn out from all the going, going, going, it was a wonderful weekend. amazing friends, good times.


but here's what i want to talk about: caspian.
i have a love/ hate relationship with this movie....yes, i know it just came out, but (sadly enough) I've already seen it twice ( I took my fifth graders to see it once and saw it at midnight opening day).

i have loved the chronicles of narnia since 5th grade, when my teacher read them to us and we watched the old bbc movies of the books. in fact, i read the books almost once a year from middle school to college. i love my narnia. and wish i were one of the pevensies sometimes. they are like old friends to me.


when lion came out, i was so worried they would change the book for the movie. i was pleasantly surprised. they changed only minor things -- it was a great movie. when the previews for this one came out, i was worried again -- with valid reason: the commercials showed susan and caspian having a little thing going. going into it, i knew this movie would be different from the book. i had no idea how different, but i knew at least some things would be different. when i saw it on opening day, i was quite upset. it was sooo different! i had a lot to get over. however, after taking time and seeing it again, i am growing to love it as well.


things i don't like about prince caspian (be aware that, if you haven't seen it or read the book, i may spoil something for you):

1) prince caspian himself. well, i mean the guy who plays him. i actually love caspian in the books. there's just something about him that i'm not a fan of.
2) the romance between susan and caspian. why did we need to add this? i mean, it wasn't terrible and i can kind of see the reason, but really....not everything needs a love story. however, this is simply because i am loyal to the book first, and i won't say that while reading them, i didn't occasionally wish that something of the sort would happen between caspian and one of the girls....i just don't like it in the movie.
3) the ego battle between peter and caspian. can no one just get along? peter wanted to help caspian, not prove he was better.
4) how they make peter so mad and mean so much of the time.
5) there's so much of the book that was rearranged or changed -- the order of events, who said what lines or did certain things, etc. i think this is what gets me the most. when you read the book, there's so much symbolism in the way c.s. lewis wrote it. i love that lucy sees aslan first, but is too fearful to go alone. eventually, though, she follows him and then the others begin to see him too. the beauty of it is that even when the journey the pevensies are on is different than expected and they don't know where to go, lucy continues to look for aslan ahead of her, showing her the way all the time. it's just beautiful. and that's just one example. seriously, read the books.


things i love about prince caspian:
1) i love peter pevensie. this goes for all the narnia books he's in. i love him. i have always loved him. he's such a great big brother, and i can truly see him as a magnificent king (as he's known). i'm not a huge fan of how they portrayed him in this movie, always trying to one up everyone and prove how good he is. however, i do think it shows that no one's perfect -- no matter how great they are. mmm. i love peter pevensie.
2) i actually really liked edmund in this movie too. not a huge fan of him in the book, but i liked him in the movie.
3) lucy. ok, really i like them all except susan. but i like lucy because she always believes, she's always ready for an adventure, and her character has a wonderful relationship with aslan.
4) the music. i love the song at the end. it's called the call, and it's by regina spektor. you should check her out...she's good! (click on the link above)
5) the friendships between unexpected people portrayed in the book. real friendships.
6) that they kept the basic story the same. what they rearranged was to make it more adventurous. and really, all the parts were there, they were just moved around. the basic story was still there. and that makes me happy. because it is a beautiful story.

so, all in all, i do like the movie. it just took me a bit to get there.
but seriously, you should read the book. they will always be better than any movies they could make.
my favorite part of the movie:
the fact that, at the end, when they're walking through the tree to go back to england and that amazing song is playing, lucy looks back at aslan and while she's sad she can't stay with him, it's so hopeful. he's going to be there and she'll be with him again soon. i have cried everytime i watched it. and i'm tearing up right now.

go see the movie. it's good. it'll make your heart smile.

Comments

Steph said…
brooke, i haven't read your whole post just yet. i can't wait to see caspian... then we can discuss. should be home wednesday or thursday.

love!

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