At Quality 16 and Showcase

It's difficult to figure out just where director Andrew Adamson's adaptations of the classic "Chronicles of Narnia" books are headed. In the first film, 2005's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," he gave us a surprisingly fresh fantasy picture - one that embraced its epic being, yet stood out by focusing on the very personal nature of C.S. Lewis's enduring Narnia stories. Now, in the second film, "Prince Caspian," Adamson feels compelled to more directly evoke the Christian allegory at the core of Lewis's work. He does so in an odd, noncommittal way, yielding a film that thrills and entertains, but, ironically, seems empty overall.

Centered on the tale of Caspian (Ben Barnes, "Stardust"), the rightful king of Telmar, a land that neighbors Narnia, "Prince Caspian" returns the four Pevensie children (the returning George Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell) to Narnia - 1300 years after they initially ruled there. Narnia is being terrorized by the evil Telmarines, led by Caspian's uncle Miraz (Sergio Castellitto, "Paris, je t'aime"). In this case, just assume that the people without British accents are evil. The four former rulers of Narnia join Caspian and must find within themselves the strength to reunite and restore their once-magnificent empire.

"Prince Caspian" features many of the usual epic-movie cinematic elements that audiences have no doubt grown weary of by now (sweeping panoramic shots, a bombastic score and somewhat disturbing comedic relief). Nevertheless, most of it works as a polished work of fantasy. But whenever the film approaches the allegory that is the lifeblood of these stories it falters and seems unsure of how to proceed while still maintaining an aura of harmless movie fun. The Christian morality of the stories gets more persistent from here on out, and though Adamson largely gets away with fumbling it in "Prince Caspian," future installments of this series will not be so forgiving.