Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Trip to Narnia

When I was in elementary school, perhaps as early as 3rd grade, I remember reading a few of the books in The Chronicle of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Most notably were The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Several years ago, knowing that I enjoy reading Lewis and the Narnia books in particular, Wife bought me all 7 books in a set. I remember sitting down and anxiously rereading them, as if I was in elementary school all over again.

In December of 2005, while away on my first trip to San Diego, I watched the then newly released The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was incredible and I loved it. Tonight I got a chance to watch its sequel, Prince Caspian. I don't know how I'd compare it to the first, but I do know this -- it was incredible and I loved it. It had a darker feel to it, which I liked, and I liked that all 4 children were back. I thought they did a fantastic job and enjoyed the tension between several of the characters. Liam Neeson reprieved his role as Aslan and thought he did well, but was saddened to hear that, to him, Aslan was more representative of "the spirit of the planet" and "more what the Native Americans would believe" than a Christ figure. Obviously he's free to take away from it what he wants, but for whatever reason that bugs me. While it can be debated whether the parallel is intentional on Lewis' part or not, the parallel is there nontheless. Again, not sure why this bothers me.

It's left me wanting more....here's to 2010 and the release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader!