MOVIE REVIEW

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"

PG, for epic battle action and violence

137 minutes

Settling in nicely alongside all the early summer blockbusters, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" offers kids and adults an entertaining escape into the world of C.S. Lewis' books.

But be warned: Not only are there some kid-appropriate scenes of violence and a few scares, there's also ... kissing! Yuck! The possible transmission of cooties aside, Prince Caspian packs a lot more action than its predecessor, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." It also adds the Prince of the title and does nothing to make anyone think there won't be a third installment (recent rumors, since debunked, notwithstanding).

The film begins with the birth of a boy — the son of Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), a powerhungry sort who is also the uncle of Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes).

Caspian is the rightful heir to the throne, but Miraz uses the occasion to seize power himself. He wants Caspian dead, but the prince escapes to the woods and finds himself among Narnians, long thought to be extinct.

Yes, extinct. The setting for "Prince Caspian" is 1,300 years after the first film, at least in Narnian time. Yet for Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) Pevensie, only a year has passed since they, the former Kings and Queens of Narnia, had their last adventures. It's been a long year, though.

Settling back into the lives of London school kids is, understandably, something of a challenge for them.

But as they wait in a subway station, in Narnia a desperate Caspian blows a horn — Susan's magic horn, which transports the children back to Narnia.

They're confused by the changes at first but figure things out with the help of Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage), a dwarf who's not exactly eager to help.

Eventually the animals in the forest, Caspian and the Pevensies form an alliance in an attempt to restore Caspian to his rightful place in Narnia, so that he might once again welcome the animals and other creatures as equals. That will mean battles against Miraz, who has meanwhile bullied his own way onto the Narnian throne.

It will also mean overcoming doubting each other — particularly Lucy, who claims to have seen Aslan, the lion who hasn't been seen in Narnia for 1,000 years.

Plus, it's understandable that Caspian and Peter might engage in a power struggle of their own. While Caspian is the rightful heir to the throne, Peter is, after all, the High King, though in a different age.

Huh? As Edmund tells Miraz, it's difficult to explain.

Luckily, the tale at its heart is much simpler: good versus evil.

At times, it's too simple; while it's obvious to everyone in the world — their world and ours — that Susan and Caspian have a little teenage flirtation thing going on, it's not developed enough. And by the time it's made clear, we're left feeling like we missed something in the development of the relationship.

While Prince Caspian lacks the obvious religious overtones of Aslan's death and resurrection in the first film — one could read the corruption of religion into this movie through Miraz's reign, but it's not a point that's hammered home — it cranks up the action considerably. The effects are remarkable, to the extent that any effects are anymore.

Among the real-life actors, Castellitto is outstanding as Miraz. There's never any doubting his evil intent, but he also portrays Miraz with a good bit of humor. Dinklage, ever reliable, is funny and moving as Trumpkin.

Barnes is the big-ticket item here, Disney's newest star. And yet, while he's fine as Caspian, he's not as central to the story as one might suspect.