I took the whole family last weekend.
I didn't like that they deviated so much from Lewis' book; they introduced conflict between Peter and Caspian that never existed in the book, and while they followed Lewis' cue in portraying Peter's display of pride, they left out the appearance of Aslan where that gets dealt with. Even after Peter's plan to take Miraz' castle goes awry, his pride carries forward, unabated.
On balance, though, I thought the whole thing was very well done with great effects, fabulous costumes (All my kids want to dress like Narnian royalty), and mythic beasts come to life.
Also, thanks to the Narnia films, I've decided that for Christmas, I want a gryphon.
I never thought of you as the type for a hybrid.
I didn’t like the first movie because they butchered the plot and dialogue, but in this case, I didn’t think it mattered. They substituted one coming-of-age plus adventure plot for a different one.
I loved what they did with the Telmarine nobles. They were like the Cosa Nostra in a gangster movie, or Venetian lords in Shakespeare. Perfect costumes and dialogue for those characters. I especially liked Lord Sopespian, the Spaniard. Prince Caspian looked like our senior Boy Scout, only with curly hair; cute as a button.
I really admired Peter and Edmund, too. Got to run, it’s going to be time to load the van! More later ...