I'm obligated to say that this review contains "spoilers," but I use this term reservedly since I'm not sure this movie can really be spoiled. At least, I'm not sure how you would be able to tell.
Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2, part of his theory of relativity, explains how it is physically impossible for the opening chapters of Lewis' "Prince Caspian" to be rushed through any more quickly than was done by Adamson's abomination of the same name. It literally made me dizzy. I'll just lay it out there and get it over with; Adamson follows the storyline of the book very well. In the book, the Pevensies come to Narnia, help Caspian gain his rightful throne, and then go home; Andrewson has all three of these things happen in the movie. That's about where the similarities end. In a pathetically feeble attempt to keep fans of the book happy, Andrewson plugs in a few scenes or references from the book that don't interfere with his plot. At first, it's kind of interesting to see what kind of events he makes up to tie in the other events he made up with the events from the book. We miss this later in the movie, though, as he pretty much abandons the events from the book until the end. All this happens because he really wants the Pevensies to meet up with Caspian earlier; I have absolutely no idea why this was so important to him. It doesn't really add anything and it wreaks havoc with the storyline. In his determination to be as faithful as possible to the spirit of the book, Adamson hacks out all the events in Narnia that lead up to the blowing of the horn and almost all of the Pevensie's journey to Aslan's How. Shockingly, cutting out the first half of Lewis' story and replacing it with his own leaves the scenes taken from Lewis' story, both those later in the movie and the few scenes randomly inserted in the beginning, seeming somewhat incongruous and forced. You can almost tell what scenes or dialogue are from the book even if you haven't read it, simply by noticing the discontinuity. Whenever, a character seems to be acting out of a character or a scene seems to have little to do with the plot, it's probably from the book.
I can't imagine what could make this Andrewson character (his real name is Andrew Adamson, by the way) think he has the artistic credentials to make such a massive revision to such a great work. It's not like he's on the short list for a lifetime achievement award here. Does he honestly think he can improve on Lewis? Does he realize that the whole reason this movie is being made is because so many people love Lewis' story? Does he think Lewis' plot isn't good enough? It's not like Lewis' story lacked dramatic tension or action or character development. Andrewson didn't supply what was lacking, he just changed for no apparent reason, exhibiting monumental arrogance in the process. I'm going to harp some more on this because it really baffles me, what was gained by all these revisions? Did Andrewson just decide to use Lewis' story as a platform for his own ideas because he has no respect for a great author, or did he actually have the arrogance to think he could somehow improve on or tell Lewis' story better than Lewis could? I wish I could know what was going through his mind "hey, I just read this book by a guy named Siyes Lewis, or something like that. Alright, I really just skimmed it. The point is, it gave me some great ideas for a movie" "Look, Lewis spends way too much time with the Pevensies once they get to Narnia. This movie is not about the Pevensies. I'll have them immediately find Cair Paravel, immediately recognize it as Cair Paravel, immediately rescue the dwarf (whatever-his-name-is) and leave Cair Paravel, and almost immediately get to Aslan's How. That way I can spend more time with the central characters, the Telmarines, who Lewis barely even thinks to mention during this time. Plus, I really need to develop the Telmarines for the viewers since I cut out the whole beginning of the book where Lewis did that." If Andrewson feels no ethical constraint to respect the integrity of another artist's work, you would think he would at least be bright enough to realize that the easiest way to make a brilliant movie is to stick as closely as possible to the brilliant book. That's what Peter Jackson did with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and it worked out okay for him.
Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2, part of his theory of relativity, explains how it is physically impossible for the opening chapters of Lewis' "Prince Caspian" to be rushed through any more quickly than was done by Adamson's abomination of the same name. It literally made me dizzy. I'll just lay it out there and get it over with; Adamson follows the storyline of the book very well. In the book, the Pevensies come to Narnia, help Caspian gain his rightful throne, and then go home; Andrewson has all three of these things happen in the movie. That's about where the similarities end. In a pathetically feeble attempt to keep fans of the book happy, Andrewson plugs in a few scenes or references from the book that don't interfere with his plot. At first, it's kind of interesting to see what kind of events he makes up to tie in the other events he made up with the events from the book. We miss this later in the movie, though, as he pretty much abandons the events from the book until the end. All this happens because he really wants the Pevensies to meet up with Caspian earlier; I have absolutely no idea why this was so important to him. It doesn't really add anything and it wreaks havoc with the storyline. In his determination to be as faithful as possible to the spirit of the book, Adamson hacks out all the events in Narnia that lead up to the blowing of the horn and almost all of the Pevensie's journey to Aslan's How. Shockingly, cutting out the first half of Lewis' story and replacing it with his own leaves the scenes taken from Lewis' story, both those later in the movie and the few scenes randomly inserted in the beginning, seeming somewhat incongruous and forced. You can almost tell what scenes or dialogue are from the book even if you haven't read it, simply by noticing the discontinuity. Whenever, a character seems to be acting out of a character or a scene seems to have little to do with the plot, it's probably from the book.
I can't imagine what could make this Andrewson character (his real name is Andrew Adamson, by the way) think he has the artistic credentials to make such a massive revision to such a great work. It's not like he's on the short list for a lifetime achievement award here. Does he honestly think he can improve on Lewis? Does he realize that the whole reason this movie is being made is because so many people love Lewis' story? Does he think Lewis' plot isn't good enough? It's not like Lewis' story lacked dramatic tension or action or character development. Andrewson didn't supply what was lacking, he just changed for no apparent reason, exhibiting monumental arrogance in the process. I'm going to harp some more on this because it really baffles me, what was gained by all these revisions? Did Andrewson just decide to use Lewis' story as a platform for his own ideas because he has no respect for a great author, or did he actually have the arrogance to think he could somehow improve on or tell Lewis' story better than Lewis could? I wish I could know what was going through his mind "hey, I just read this book by a guy named Siyes Lewis, or something like that. Alright, I really just skimmed it. The point is, it gave me some great ideas for a movie" "Look, Lewis spends way too much time with the Pevensies once they get to Narnia. This movie is not about the Pevensies. I'll have them immediately find Cair Paravel, immediately recognize it as Cair Paravel, immediately rescue the dwarf (whatever-his-name-is) and leave Cair Paravel, and almost immediately get to Aslan's How. That way I can spend more time with the central characters, the Telmarines, who Lewis barely even thinks to mention during this time. Plus, I really need to develop the Telmarines for the viewers since I cut out the whole beginning of the book where Lewis did that." If Andrewson feels no ethical constraint to respect the integrity of another artist's work, you would think he would at least be bright enough to realize that the easiest way to make a brilliant movie is to stick as closely as possible to the brilliant book. That's what Peter Jackson did with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and it worked out okay for him.