History Film / PrinceCaspian

[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine Everything you know is going to change.]]]]

** Peter and Caspian deliver these to one another after their failed attempt at capturing Miraz' castle.

'''Peter:''' No, there wasn't, thanks to ''you''. If you had [[LeeroyJenkins stuck to the plan]], those soldiers might still be alive!\\

'''Caspian:''' '''[[BigWordShout HEY]]!''' ''I'' am not the one who [[NiceJobBreakingItHero abandoned Narnia]]!\\
'''Peter:''' You ''invaded'' Narnia! '''[[SuddenlyShouting You have no more right to rule it than Miraz does]]!''' ''You, him, [[RelativeButton your father]]- Narnia's better off without the lot of you!''

** Queen Prunaprismia in the book is a harpy that despises Caspian. In the film she shows no ill-will towards him -- and expresses genuine horror at learning that Miraz murdered his brother.

** In the book it is not mentioned whether Prunaprismia was aware of her husband having murdered Caspian's father, although it probably wouldn't have bothered her anyway.

* AdaptationalDiversity: The Telmarines in this version descend from 16th century Spanish pirates, and as such are usually portrayed by actors hailing from the lands formerly belonging to the Spanish Empire, like Hispanics and Italians. In the books, the pirates' ethnicities weren't mentioned, but there was nothing in their descendants to indicate they were from a distinct origin than the original Narnian humans, who hailed from England (piracy is an activity much more popularly associated to the English than the Spaniards after all, which might be the reason why the pirates are implied to have been conquistadors instead in this version).

* AdaptationExpansion:
** In the book, Nikabrik, the hag and the werewolf only suggest resurrecting the White Witch and are stopped before they can go through with it. In the film, [[spoiler:they partially succeed, and the Witch is very nearly liberated from the spirit realm. Peter himself seems tempted by the Witch's offer to help them, until [[MustMakeAmends Edmund destroys the portal]]]].
** Miraz’s wife and son are featured more and they willingly leave to another world along with General Glozelle after Miraz's defeat.
** The raid on the castle takes up a considerable portion of the second act. In the book, the idea was only discussed, and was quickly abandoned.
* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Like in the book, Trumpkin still deduces right away that the four children who save him from drowning are the ancient monarchs of Narnia, summoned to help by Queen Susan's magic horn. However in the film Trumpkin was not immediately present when the horn was blown, as he charged off to fight the soldiers pursuing Caspian, and was not present for the explanation of the horn's power either. In the book the horn was blown much later, with all of Caspian's supporters present, and Trumpkin was specifically sent to Cair Paravel, as it was predicted that the help would likely arrive there.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** Trumpkin is more cynical and snarky than his book counterpart.
** Miraz in the book was a traditional evil yet cowardly monarch, whereas in the film he is cold-blooded, calculating, and seems unafraid of anything.

* DashingHispanic: The Telmarine culture in the second movie is [[FantasyCounterpartCulture very obviously based]] on Golden Age Spain, so Caspian qualifies as an example. Ben Barnes even based his characterization on [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]].

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Telmarine culture is stylized to resemble Golden Age Spain. Much like in the book, HandWaved by explaining that Telmar was founded by Earth pirates who accidentally found their way to Narnia. Likewise, Narnia itself has "Merry Old England" vibes.

** The River God. Goes from a minor spirit asking Aslan to free him from the Telmarine bridge to a powerful water deity that drowns the Telmarine army and ''swallows Lord Sopespian.''
** Susan. She was given the moniker "The Gentle" for a reason, and had a very passive role in the book. Here, she becomes a total ActionGirl, killing the enemies with arrows just by throwing them and holding off a group of soldiers alone with her bow and quiver of arrows. She's also seen fighting alongside the guys in just about every battle sequence.

** We find out that Miraz murdered Caspian's father earlier in the book, and it's a cause for NightmareFuel - so that Caspian knows what his uncle is capable of. In the film he finds out much later, and is prompted to try and take revenge for it.

The four Pevensie children (Creator/WilliamMoseley, Creator/AnnaPopplewell, Creator/SkandarKeynes, and Creator/GeorgieHenley) return to Narnia to aid Prince Caspian (Creator/BenBarnes) in his struggle for the throne against his corrupt uncle, King Miraz (Creator/SergioCastellitto). The film was released on May 16, 2008 in the United States and on June 26, 2008 in the United Kingdom. The screenplay based on the novel by C. S. Lewis was written by Stephen [=McFeely=] and Christopher Markus.

** He's also less effective as a combatant in the film. Miraz eventually loses his duel with Peter despite [[ISurrenderSuckers calling a break when the duel went against him and using that to try and get the drop on Peter]] by attempting to stab him InTheBack. In the book, Peter never manages to beat him: the duel was stopped after Miraz tripped and his own lords backstabbed him.

-->'''Caspian''': You are a mouse.
-->'''Reepicheep''': (''sighs'') I was hoping for something a little more original. Pick up your sword.

* CallBack: When the Telmarine cat gets BoundAndGagged by the mice, it's a reference to [[spoiler:when the white witch and her henchmonsters tied Aslan up in the first film.]]
* CallThatAFormation: Averted with the Telmarines' use of shield walls which hold effectively against charging Centaurs and Minotaurs.

** Dr Cornelius is combined with Caspian's nurse (who is the one that first told him stories about Narnia's history).

* DarkerAndEdgier: This film is arguably the darkest of the series, is significantly more vicious and horrifying than you'd expect a PG-13 film to be, and is exponentially darker than the book. This was {{lampshaded}} in the trailer:

-->'''Prunaprismia:''' I thought you said your brother died in his sleep?
-->'''Miraz:''' [[SlainInTheirSleep That was more or less true.]]
:: In the book it is not mentioned whether Prunaprismia was aware of her husband having murdered Caspian's father, although it probably wouldn't have bothered her anyway.

-->'''Caspian:''' You could have called it off. There was still time!\\

-->'''Reepicheep''': Choose your last words carefully, Telmarine.
-->'''Caspian''': You are a mouse.
-->'''Reepicheep''': I was hoping for something a little more original.

-->'''Soldier''': You're a --!
-->'''Reepicheep''': Yes, I'm a mouse.

-->'''Soldier''': You're a mouse.
-->'''Reepicheep''': You people have no imagination!

--> '''Miraz''': What's the matter boy? Too cowardly to take a life?
--> '''Peter''': ''It's not mine to take''.

-->'''Miraz:''' That was more or less true.
** In the book it is not mentioned whether Prunaprismia was aware of her husband having murdered Caspian's father, although it probably wouldn't have bothered her anyway.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In spades. In the book, none of the Pevensies seemed too affected by abruptly leaving Narnia and becoming children again. In the film, both Peter and Susan have been affected badly - Peter getting into fights and Susan becoming anti-social. Peter and Caspian likewise have a rivalry that isn't in the book.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Miraz is not a very popular lord and king. Members of his council goad him into accepting Peter's DuelToTheDeath, and disobey his instructions to seal his victory via treachery should the fight go sour. [[spoiler:Sopespian, his NumberTwo, outright murders him after the duel concludes with no fatality.]]

* AdaptationalWimp: Miraz seems to be a less effective schemer than his book counterpart who was able to make himself king before the story starts, having quietly disposed of any Telmarine lord who would support Caspian and getting his sycophants to support his claim. Here he's still the Lord Protector and still has to answer to the Council of Lords and isn't able to become King until after Caspian's attack on the castle.

* MookHorrorShow: Reepicheep and his followers, being mice, attack and summarily massacres a whole troop of Telmarine soldiers surreptitiously, as they cannot see mice coming in the tall grass and ferns; all they know is that they are getting cut down like wheat by something they can't even make out.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Trumpkin gets a short but effective one in the film; when he's brought before Miraz and Miraz insults him and the Narnians and then hits him across the face for pretty much no reason, Trumpkin gives Miraz a DeathGlare and simply says "And you wonder why we don't ''like'' you?"

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: The good-hearted prince of a [[TheEmpire rather evil empire]] is about to be disposed of by [[TheUsurper the evil uncle]] who [[YouKilledMyFather killed his father]] and took his throne, so he organizes a daring night raid to infiltrate the castle, kill the usurper in his bed, and retake the kingdom in a matter of minutes. [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim Just as he's about to pull the trigger]], his uncle [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame congratulates him on finally showing some spine, and being worthy of the throne he's about to take.]] [[ReversePsychology Horrified]], [[GoodIsDumb he aborts the entire operation]], risking all of their lives with a fighting retreat and wasting countless man-, woman-, and minotaur-hours of preparation and execution. This also leads directly to the final showdown, the deaths of many of Caspian's allies, and [[WhatMeasureIsAMook the decimation of an opposing army]] that was, [[MyCountryRightOrWrong for better or worse]], [[JustFollowingOrders just following the orders of their king]] (and likely [[YouHaveFailedMe facing execution for any disobedience]]). The RageHelm entry even mentions how they [[RedShirt deliberately dehumanized the Telmarine army]] to make the protagonists seem justified in causing hundreds of deaths by the act of sparing one tyrant. This is presented as having been the honorable way for Caspian to reclaim his throne, with the opening of the next movie deliberately illustrating how seamlessly Caspian took the reins and pacified the realm.
** Although see DecapitatedArmy above: There's no guarantee that assassinating Miraz will see everyone instantly accept Caspian and his Narnian allies as the new regime, especially with a couple of [[TheDragon Dragons]] [[DragonAscendant waiting to take his place]] -- indeed, one of them actually fakes an assassination to kill off Miraz and take command, meaning that if anything, it would be counter-productive. (It should be added all this only applies to the film: The book and BBC adaptation have a much simpler failed ambush where Caspian never has the opportunity to kill Miraz.)

* TheRestShallPass: Susan to Lucy in, when she stays behind to hold off the pursuing soldiers so that Lucy can find Aslan in time.

''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'' is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' (the second published, fourth chronological novel in Creator/CSLewis' epic fantasy series, ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'') but considerably darker and more overtly bloody than the book had been. It is the second in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' film series from Creator/WaldenMedia, following ''[[Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]''.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Like in the book, Trumpkin still deduces right away that the four children who save him from drowning are the ancient monarchs of Narnia, summoned to help by Queen Susan's magic horn. However in the film Trumpkin was not immediately present when the horn was blown, as he charged off to fight the soldiers pursuing Caspian, and was not present for the explanation of the horn's power either. In the book the horn was blown much later, with all of Caspian's supporters present, and Trumpkin was specifically sent to Care Paravel, as it was predicted that the help would likely arrive there.

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Trumpkin is more cynical and snarky than his book counterpart.

** Miraz. In the book, he was a traditional evil yet cowardly monarch, whereas in the film he is cold-blooded, calculating, and seems unafraid of anything. He loses points though for [[ISurrenderSuckers calling a break when the duel went against him and using that to try and get the drop on Peter]] by attempting to stab him InTheBack. He's also a less effective schemer next to his book counterpart.

-->'''Edmund Pevensie:''' [looking down a cliff over the water] Is there a way down?
-->'''Trumpkin:''' Yes. Falling.

-->'''Trumpkin:''' [after being saved by Peter] "Drop him?!?" That's the best you can come up with?
-->'''Susan:''' A simple "thank you" would suffice.
-->'''Trumpkin:''' They were doing fine drowning me without your help!

* HollywoodTactics: Played straight with the LeeroyJenkins approach to the castle raid (though granted that's only after Caspian deviates from the plan), but the final battle has both sides pulling various tricks, such as the Narnians leading the Telmarine cavalry into a trap, while the Telmarines have fire support in the form of trebuchets and surround the Narnians during the battle with the intent of crushing them between the advancing companies.

* CallBack: When the Telmarine cat gets {{AllTiedUp}} by the mice, it's a reference to [[spoiler:when the white witch and her henchmonsters tied Aslan up in the first film.]]

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: If Caspian and his sailors are any indication, the whole Telmarine race apparently drops their vaguely-Spanish accents some time between ''Prince Caspian'' and ''The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader''. Perhaps he took on an English accent so the native Narnians were more comfortable with him?

** Miraz's attempted assassination of Caspian is likewise different. In the book Miraz is already king and only targets Caspian to secure his son's claim on the throne, having previously been content with Caspian as his heir. . Here Miraz is just the Lord Protector and targets Caspian in order to become King after the birth of his son secures the future succession.

** Queen Prunaprismia in the book is a harpy that despises Caspian. In the film she shows no ill-will towards him - and expresses genuine horror at learning that Miraz murdered his brother.

* AgeLift: Caspian in the book is simply described as a boy as old as Peter - though the BBC adaptation depicted him as a young boy. The film ages him up considerably. This happens with the Pevensies too, although only a year has passed. They are much older than they were in the book.

* DashingHispanic: The Telmarine culture in the second movie is [[FantasyCounterpartCulture very obviously based]] on Golden Age Spain, so Caspian qualifies as an example. Ben Barnes even based his characterization on [[Film/ThePrincessBride Inigo Montoya]]).

* EmbarrassingNickname: The Pevensies take to calling the caustic, yet loyal and ultimately lovable Trumpkin "DLF", which stands for "Dear Little Friend", mocking his height and abrasive personality. But as there's really no vindictiveness behind it at all, and as the Pevensies truly adore the Dwarf, this doubles as AffectionateNickname - though he still grumbles about it.

* UnhandThemVillain: When some Telmarines are about to dump Trumpkin, BoundAndGagged, into the river, Susan [[TwangHello shoots an arrow]] and orders them to "drop him". They do so - unsurprisingly, into the river, and the boys jump in to save the dwarf while Susan dispatches the soldiers. Trumpkin is suitably unimpressed, and treats Susan to a bit of snark once they're all back on dry land.

** Although see DecapitatedArmy above: There's no guarantee that assassinating Miraz will see everyone instantly accept Caspian and his Narnian allies as the new regime, especially with a couple of [[TheDragon Dragons]] [[DragonAscendant waiting to take his place]] - indeed, one of them actually fakes an assassination to kill off Miraz and take command, meaning that if anything, it would be counter-productive. (It should be added all this only applies to the film: The book and BBC adaptation have a much simpler failed ambush where Caspian never has the opportunity to kill Miraz.)

* AdaptationExpansion: [[spoiler: In the book, Nikabrik, the hag and the werewolf only suggest resurrecting the White Witch and are stopped before they can go through with it. In the film, they partially succeed]].

** In the book it is not mentioned whether Prunaprismia was aware of her husband having murdered Caspian's father, although it probably wouldn't have bothered her if she was.

''The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'' is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' (the second published, fourth chronological novel in Creator/CSLewis' epic fantasy series, ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'') but considerably darker and more overtly bloody than the book had been. It is the second in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' film series from Creator/WaldenMedia, following ''[[Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe]]''.