The tagline of the second NARNIA film goes: Everything you know is about to change forever.  True to the statement, the Pevensies children (Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell) are whipped away from the Strand Tube Station in London to Narnia in order to aid Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) restore his Kingdom from the villainous King Miraz (Italian actor Sergio Castellano).  The land’s creatures are almost extent though a variety of them from dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), Reepicheep (voice of Eddie Izzard) and the King of the centaurs emerge to fight.

Three years have past since the first NARNIA film.  Though the Pevensies children are played by the same four child actors, they have grown remarkably and look more grown up naturally.  They interact well with each other and their real age difference work well into the sequel.  The elder girl Anna has romance (i.e. Prince Caspian) on her mind and the eldest William leads most of the battles.  Youngest Lucy looks ridiculous though carrying her life restoring magic potion in her jar granting life back to her dead or dying friends.  Oscar winner Tilda Swinton has a short welcome cameo as the white witch and Liam Neeson reprises the voice of Aslan, the lion.  The baddies are mostly played by a variety of Latinos primarily Italians and Spanish.

NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN is larger, louder and bolder than the original film.  The filmmakers claim it to be darker, but this is only so at the film’s start (the difficult birth during a dark night) and the death of one prime character.  Director Adamson and his crew create a stunning display of CGI and special effects in the fight scenes shot in the Lord of the Rings land of New Zealand.  Noticeable is the absence of blood and gore despite the high body count.  A decapitation is shown for example only of a helmet left on the battle ground.  The script by Adamson, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely assumes the audience familiar with the first Narnia film.  The lion appears toward the last half of the film as do a few characters from the original story.

Though the epic battles are brilliantly staged, the film could help with a stronger narrative.  Still, this sequel will be another box-office triumph for the Disney and Fox-Walden studios.