Thrills and spills in magical kingdom (From Halesowen News)

Thrills and spills in magical kingdom

6:50am Saturday 22nd November 2008

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THE Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Cert PG, 143 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Family/Action/Drama/Romance, also available to buy DVD £20.99/Narnia double pack DVD £22.99/Blu-ray £26.99) Starring: Ben Barnes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Sergio Castellitto, Peter Dinklage, Warwick Davis, Pierfrancesco Favino, and the voices of Liam Nesson, Eddie Izzard, Ken Stott.

Prince Caspian (Barnes), heir to the Telmarine throne, escapes an assassination attempt orchestrated by his despicable uncle Miraz (Castellitto) and sidekick General Glozelle (Favino).

The Prince summons the Pevensie children - Peter (Moseley), Susan (Popplewell), Edmund (Keynes) and Lucy (Hensley) - from the devastation of World War II London, back to the magical kingdom they once ruled as kings and queens.

The children discover that 1,300 Narnia years have passed: Cair Paravel is in ruins, the trees are ominously silent and many of the four-legged denizens have lost the power of speech.

Aided by the dwarves Trumpkin (Dinklage) and Nikabrik (Davis), sword-wielding mouse Reepicheep (drolly voiced by Izzard) and badger Trufflehunter (Stott), Caspian and the youngsters aim to restore peace to the kingdom.

The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian confidently trumps its predecessor for thrills and intrigue, although it does lack a strong, boo-hiss villain such as Tilda Swinton's Witch - despite some passionate glowering from Castellitto's power-hungry Miraz.

Moseley, Popplewell, Keynes and Hensley snuggle back into their familiar roles, with hints of a romantic subplot for Lucy and Caspian, which can never come to fruition because as Lucy ruefully reflects, "I am 1,300 years older than you."

Dashing newcomer Barnes is an attractive addition to the forces of good, capturing the internal conflict of vengeance-seeking orphan Caspian - despite a shaky, adopted accent to align himself with his predominantly Spanish-speaking Telmarines.

Director and co-writer Andrew Adamson draws heavily on earlier family-oriented successes - Shrek and its sequel - to populate his rollicking romp with comical, larger-than-life creatures.

Like the first film, the majestic Aslan (Neeson) is the 'mane' attraction of an action-packed second half.

The Chronicles Of Narnia (2 Movie Collector's Set), comprising The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, is also available.

DVD Extras: Director and actors' commentary, "Becoming Trumpkin" featurette, "Behind The Magic" featurette, "Big Movie Comes To A Small Town" featurette, "Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns" featurette, "Previsualising Narnia" featurette, "Secrets Of The Duel" featurette, "Sets Of Narnia: A Classic Comes To Life" featurette, "Talking Animals And Walking Trees: The Magical World Of Narnia" featurette, "Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik" featurette, deleted scenes, The Bloopers Of Narnia; Blu-ray: Director and actors' commentary, "Becoming Trumpkin" featurette, "Behind The Magic" featurette, "Big Movie Comes To A Small Town" featurette, "Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns" featurette, "Previsualising Narnia" featurette, "Secrets Of The Duel" featurette, "Sets Of Narnia: A Classic Comes To Life" featurette, "Talking Animals And Walking Trees: The Magical World Of Narnia" featurette, "Warwick Davis: The Man Behind Nikabrik" featurette, deleted scenes, The Bloopers Of Narnia, "Circle-Vision Interactive: Creating The Castle Raid" featurette.

Rating: Three out of five.

Kung Fu Panda (Cert PG, 88 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, Family/Comedy, also available to buy DVD £19.99/two-disc DVD £24.99/Blu-ray £29.99) Featuring the voices of: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, David Cross, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim.

Overweight panda Po (voiced by Black) has a passion for kung fu, though no natural ability. Instead, he is destined to inherit the family noodle shop run by his long-suffering father, Mr Ping (Hong).

Unthinkably, local sensei Master Oogway (Kim) anoints Po as the next Dragon Warrior, who must protect the village from harm, specifically from the threat posed by escaped prisoner Tai Lung (McShane).

Oogway's choice of successor stuns his protege Shifu (Hoffman) and loyal students Crane (Cross), Mantis (Rogen), Monkey (Chan), Tigress (Jolie) and Viper (Liu), better known as The Furious Five, who have trained their entire lives for such an honour.

They feel certain that Oogway should have chosen one of them instead and wait patiently for Po to fall by the wayside.

Kung Fu Panda is the best family-oriented offering from DreamWorks Animation since box office smash Shrek. Lush, colourful visuals and excellent vocal performances guarantee a lively and enjoyable 88 minutes of low blows and last-gasp victories.

Mark Osborne and John Stevenson's computer animated comedy wins us over instantly with its lovable characters and affection for martial arts cliches, as the overweight hero discovers his inner strength somewhere within that protuberant, growling belly.

With lots of heart and wide-ranging humour, the film gently promotes Mr Ping's mantra that, "To make something special, you just have to believe something is special."

Fight sequences are animated at breakneck speed -including a memorable standoff on a rope bridge, matched by quick-fire banter, between Black's ill-equipped saviour and Hoffman's dour master.

DVD Extras: Cast and crew commentary, "Meet The Cast" featurette, "Pushing The Boundaries" featurette, "Conservation International: Help Save The Wild Pandas" featurette, "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" featurette, DreamWorks Animation Video JukeBox; Two-disc: Cast and crew commentary, "Meet The Cast" featurette, "Pushing The Boundaries" featurette, "Conservation International: Help Save The Wild Pandas" featurette, "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" featurette, DreamWorks Animation Video JukeBox, "Animals Of Kung Fu Panda" featurette, "What Fighting Style Are You?" featurette, "Do You Kung Fu?" featurette, sound design featurette, "Mr Ping's Noodle House" featurette, "How To Use Chopsticks" featurette, "Inside The Chinese Zodiac" featurette, "Po Around The World" featurette, Learn The Panda Dance, Learn To Draw, Dumpling Shuffle, DVD ROM game and activities, printables, Kung Fu Panda Sound machine, Kung Fu Panda Activision video game demo with cheat code, Cee-Lo "Kung Fu Fighting" music video, Sam Concepcion "Kung Fu Fighting" music video; Blu-ray: Cast and crew commentary, "The Animators' Corner" featurette, "Pushing The Boundaries" featurette, "Conservation International: Help Save The Wild Pandas" featurette, "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" featurette, DreamWorks Animation Video JukeBox, "Meet The Cast" featurette, "Animals Of Kung Fu Panda" featurette, "What Fighting Style Are You?" featurette, "Do You Kung Fu?" featurette, "Mr Ping's Noodle House" featurette, "How To Use Chopsticks" featurette, "Inside The Chinese Zodiac" featurette, sound design featurette, trivia track, Learn The Panda Dance, Learn To Draw, Dumpling Shuffle, Cee-Lo "Kung Fu Fighting" music video.

Rating: Three out of five.

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