**1/2 – While only one year in England has passed since the four Pevensey children saved the land of Narnia with the help of a weird god-like lion savior in the first film in this series, when they are called back to the fantastical realm for 2008’s sequel “Prince Caspian” it is apparently several hundred years later there. Narnia has been overrun by savage humans and the last of the mystical creatures that dwelled there have been driven off into hiding, while the heir to the human throne – the titular Prince Caspian – has been booted out by his evil throne-usurping uncle (who is clearly evil because he has a beard and a vaguely Arabic accent and skin tone). It is now up to the argumentative kids and the whiny prince to try to find the missing heroic lion Aslan and save the Narnians from extinction with the help of minotaurs, sword-wielding mice, talking tigers, centaurs, and a constantly bickering gay dwarf couple. I read all these books back when I was a kid, and I certainly don’t remember all the action being in them that the film versions have infused. However, since the books are dull, melodramatic and preachy the heavy action orientation is probably a marked improvement over what could have been. I can’t say this is a particularly good film, seeing as it has some pretty poor acting and goes overboard with the ‘aw shucks’ wholesome light humor, but it looks kind of nice and is pretty entertaining despite its considerable length. And don’t’ worry, everything works out in the end. Aslan turns a river into Jesus who then smites the evil non-believers. Huh?
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