Quit yo fussin': My Thoughts on Prince Caspian

There has been a lot of fuss from Christian movie critics about Disney's new release of Prince Caspian. (Read Chattaway's and/or Overstreet's reviews) Mind you, these are critics that I enjoy reading and I will continue to read and respect them. There main criticism is that this film's spiritual content has been dramatically watered down and replaced with unnecessary battle/action scenes, which in turn negates a MAJOR aspect of C.S. Lewis' attempt in writing these books.

I will first say this: They do have a good point. There are some major aspects to the book that were left out that embraced the Christlike nature of Aslan. Aslan was significantly less present in this film as opposed to the book.

It had been several years since I had read Prince Caspian, and so my watching of this film was in many ways as if I had never read the book. (My wife watched it having never read the book as well.) In spite of the fact that many say that Caspian is watered down, I have to retort to say that I found many spiritual connections while watching this film.

(SPOILERS A PLENTY)

Connection #1. There was a definite continuous dialogue about the battles of faith and reason in this film. Even though Aslan was silent until almost the end of the movie, I connected with this in a similar way to when I have times of silence want waiting on the Lord to speak. Was that what the book intended? Maybe not, but I still found this as a profound illustration of waiting on God to speak. Many of the Narnians lost faith, but Lucy remained faithful and was the one to lead others to Aslan in the end. What a cool illustration of childlike faith and how that faith can serve as a tremendous example.

Connection #2: The film had a major section dealing with faith and temptation with the dialogue with the white witch. It showed how the enemy can seem so tempting, yet we are able to see from an outsiders view the great danger of giving in to the enemy.

Connection #3: When Aslan came in the end of the film, it was a glorious entry as we were able to see how Aslan not only was powerful, but was ALL powerful. I was awed to watch Aslan control the elements of the earth for his benefit (the revival of the trees and the waking of the water)

Connection #4: Aslan was always willing to forgive. Many of the Narnians serving Aslan were from a lineage that used to serve the white witch. In the end, Aslan gave the Talmarines that surrendered a chance to live with them in Narnia. In the midst of a just and dangerous lion, Aslan was also a forgiving lion.

So, from my perspective, responding to the other critics...quit yo' fussin. It is a pretty incredible advancement that Narnia has been brought to the big blockbuster world, in a time where literature written by Christians is viewed by many in the entertainment industry as poor quality and too preachy. These films are going to engage and entertain many people and most likely are going to lead many to want to read the books. For many people, the exploration of Narnia will be an uphill journey starting with entertaining films that give some great glimpses into the awesome magical/spiritual world that Lewis created.

So, my two cents...let's count our blessings and support these films in spite of some obvious weaknesses. Lindsey and I definitely will continue to eagerly anticipate each Narnia film, and we look forward to sharing the books along with the films with our kids someday.