This is the film that almost didn't happen. After the less than stellar box office for 'Prince Caspian', Disney left the franchise. Luckily Fox came to the table and we get to see this film.
Ever since the success of the 'Lord Of The Rings' trilogy and the 'Harry Potter' series, studios have been buying up fantasy franchises to exploit. They had great potential in the 'Narnia' series but things have not gone well. Part of the problem is that unlike the other series these books are separate stories and not really part of a continuing saga. 'Prince Caspian' was not as thrilling as 'Lion, The Witch...' so it was a bit of a let down for the series. As a result this film comes across as very ordinary. To me it felt like they were going through the motions in making the film. They had troubles in trying to get it set up that by the time it came to do it they had kind of lost interest but had to go through with making it because off all the trouble in setting it up. There are no heart or feeling to the film. They were unable to make any of the confrontations very thrilling, except perhaps the final one which is quite good. The general story is not very interesting either. Caspian is supposed to be on a mission to find some guys who are missing but we're not sure why they are so important. Even when we do you don't really care.
The cast try their best with the mediocre material they are given. Poor Ben Barnes is not given very much to do. Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes have the same character arcs they did in the previous films so just do the same thing again. The best thing in the film is Will Poulter. I became a fan of his after the brilliant film 'Son Of Rambow'. He is very funny in this film and gives an excellent performance.
So far this film has had a pretty lackluster performance ant the box office so I don't think you should hold your breath for another in the series.
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