I'm back home for a few days and went with my family to see the most recent in the film adaptation of C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia," Prince Caspian. It's been a very long time since I read the book, so I can't really speak as to how faithful the movie is. The plot involves our heroes, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, getting called back to Narnia by Prince Caspian (the rightful heir to the Telmarine throne) in order to defeat his evil uncle, Miraz, who intends to have Prince Caspian murdered and to usurp the throne for himself.

The action is passably good, if rather tame. Like good Christians, the Pevensey children, along with Prince Caspian, turn the other cheek, do unto their enemies as they would have done unto them and work out a diplomatic solution to the "succession to the throne" issue involving a power-sharing agreement between Caspian and Miraz that... Oh, no wait a second - nope none of that actually happened. What actually happens is that, like good Christians, Caspian and the Pevensey children preemptively attack their enemies and bravely slaughter them in battle. In fact, given that the mortality rate in this movie rivals The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers it was quite a feat for the producers to come away with a PG rating.

Another interesting decision on the part of the producers of this movie was to give Caspian and the Telmarines Spanish accents. The back story here is that the Telmarines are descended from pirates and, many centuries ago, accidentally came upon some kind of wormhole that brought them to Narnia. Then, instead of behaving like good houseguests, they proceeded to rape and pillage everything in sight. The Telmarines are eventually undone while pursuing our heroes across a river which Aslan (the God figure) then causes to rise up and swallow them. The evil Miraz now defeated, Aslan then goes on to make an offer to the Telmarines, "You may live with us in peace or, more preferably, you may walk through this door I have made in the air and end up some place...else. Someplace where we will never have to see you again." Hmmmm, sound at all familiar? Large numbers of hispanic looking and sounding people, trying to cross a river into unwelcome territory and subsequently being deported to another realm? Does The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian have a political agenda? I'll let you decide.