WARNING: HUGE SPOILERS!!
The Walden Media logo turns into an eclipse of the moon in the Narnia sky (a neat effect) – or is it actually Tarva and Alambil? We zoom in towards a castle – not Cair Paravel – to a woman (Prunaprismia) giving birth. Now that is an intense beginning. And at first I was confused: General Glozelle calls Miraz “Lord,” not “Your Highness.” Then we find out that Miraz is still Lord Protector, not yet King. And when Caspian’s tutor, Dr. Cornelius, comes to save the Prince, Caspian asks for five more minutes! Then his bed is shot to pieces by four rounds (at least, my brothers say it is three or four) of crossbow bolts. If Caspian had really been there, would they even have found any of him left?? But Caspian has already escaped – through a wardrobe of all things!
And it is Cornelius, not Aslan (as could be inferred from the trailers), who says, “All that you know is about to change.” Then Caspian is in for the race of his life as he rides his horse Destrier to escape General Glozelle and several of his soldiers. One shot of the chase is on open plains, and though the scene takes place at night, it reminded me of the Ringwraiths chasing Arwen in The Fellowship of the Ring.
(On a side note, this part is one of the scenes with the most consecutively original music in the entire film.)
And fans of The Chronicles of Narnia are surprised when Trumpkin is captured by Glozelle and Caspian blows the horn early.
Definitely different from the book, and the changes in the very beginning set off quite a few of the changes in the plot throughout the film. But all in all, I think that the opening scene is very cool, very fast-paced, and very, very exciting.
Coming Next: Back in England
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