?The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian?
D: Andrew Adamson
S: Ben Barnes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley

MANILA, Philippines?Director Andrew Adamson brings back the magic in the action-packed ?The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,? which finds the Pevensies?Peter (played by William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley)?being hurled back into the now-chaotic world of Narnia, after embattled Prince Caspian X (the dashing Ben Barnes) sends them a desperate SOS 1,300 years after the events in ?The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.?

In wartime London, it?s been only a year since the Pevensie siblings have said goodbye to Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) and the cuddlesome talking creatures of the magical land they discovered inside a wardrobe?and they can?t wait to go back!

But, Narnia has since been invaded and dominated by humans from the kingdom of the Telmarines?and the once cheery and chatty animals of Narnia have fled into hiding!

Now in exile, Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the Telmarine throne, must convince Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy and the understandably less-than-friendly creatures of Narnia to help him overthrow his uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto, who?s deliciously vicious), who murdered Caspian?s father to usurp the crown.

Aside from Aslan, there?s the surly but well-meaning Red Dwarf, Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage); the Black Dwarf, Nikabrik (Warwick Davis); the centaur, Glenstorm (Cornell John); the valiant mouse, Reepicheep (Eddie Izzard), and the zany badger, Trufflehunter (Ken Stott).

Adamson makes ?Prince Caspian? darker, livelier, grittier and more substantial than its predecessor?although the film?s protracted middle-third can benefit from considerable cutting (the movie runs for two hours and 27 minutes). This darker, more adult sequel will doubtless perpetuate the popularity of C.S. Lewis? Narnian mythology.

This time, Lewis? allegorical and spiritual references aren?t so overtly tackled. The production?s thrilling battle scenes will have the kids and kids-at-heart cheering the Narnians on. Moreover, what is a Narnia movie without the saucy White Witch (Tilda Swinton)?even if only for a cameo turn, right?

There?s no doubt Moseley, Popplewell, Keynes and Henley have grown well into their roles, but ?Prince Caspian? is really a career-making turn for 26-year-old British stage actor, Ben Barnes, and a thespic showcase for famed Italian actor, Castellitto?who manages to make his sinister character almost sympathetic!

Aside from the film?s splendid special effects, its adorable leads and their furry friends, ?Prince Caspian? is buoyed up even more by its rousingly engaging good-thwarts-evil storyline. It entertains its viewers as much as it reminds them in a friendly-but-cautionary tone that, even in moments of overwhelming cynicism and despair, the forces of good will always triumph in the end!