The kids from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe are back in the second Narnia chronicle, which also sees Shrek’s Andrew Adamson at the helm again and Tilda Swinton returning for a very brief cameos as evil sorceress Jadis.
Alas, the original’s sense of child-like magic and wonder has gone AWOL, supplanted by a downbeat torpor only fitfully alleviated by Eddie Izzard’s sword-wielding mouse.
Ben Barnes looks the part as the titular Prince Caspian but lacks the charisma needed to carry a saga that has no clearly defined dichotomy between good and evil.
The result? A spectacular but hollow fantasy that makes you hope Michael Apted has some tricks up his sleeve for Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.
This two-disc Special Edition comes with a selection of commentaries, featurettes, bloopers and deleted scenes that were all unavailable
at press time.
Neil Smith
