If you are a small child like several of those at the screening I attended, however, that very shift towards a grittier, more human reality may make its battles a bit too real to watch. And in terms of the message that went along with that reality, I have to say that the first film did a bit better job of communicating it more through story and character than the slightly preachy feeling dialog of the second. But regardless of which of the movie’s strengths may pull you in and which of its weakness may turn you off, the story that is told in Prince Caspian and the way it is delivered is still one I believe will make a connection with many and be enjoyed by almost as diverse an audience as the first.

Going into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, like many people, I pretty much had its story pegged. Aslan is Jesus, and it is about his sacrifice and resurrection to deliver us from the bondage of our sins. But going into Prince Caspian, and even as I walked away from it, I must admit I wasn’t exactly sure what its story was supposed to be about. Its pieces were there, but my question was, what did they mean when I put them together?

World of darkness, bears that don’t talk, trees that don’t sing. “You get treated like a dumb animal long enough, that’s what you become,” says “Dear Little Friend” Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) upon the Pevensies’ return to the vastly changed world of Narnia… So, we do live in a world of sin and darkness, and the effect of that reality is nothing other than life-draining. Sounds about right.

Aslan remains mysteriously absent for much of the movie and doesn’t step in to save things until significant losses have already been incurred. “Things were never meant to happen the same way twice,” he tells Lucy… Okay, God isn’t going to keep coming and dying for us every time we get into a mess. Got it.

Lucy sees Aslan. No one else does. “I’m not going to jump off a cliff after someone who doesn’t exist,” says Peter… God may not be physically among us anymore, but he’s still here. I can see that.

“Maybe we’re the ones who need to prove ourselves to him,” says Lucy just before she leaves to find Aslan and call upon his help… Hmmm: free will, journey to be taken, life-giving power not so much making us wait as waiting for us to reach out for it. Interesting.

If The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the story of Christ’s sacrifice for us long ago, as I see it, Prince Caspian is the story of God’s existence in our lives now. Yes, Christ’s sacrifice may have saved us from eternal bondage to Satan (the White Witch), but that does not mean that our lives here and now will be free of struggle or complication. At times, it may seem that our world is completely devoid of any of the light or magic we associate with the existence of God, but that does not mean God is not here.

As much as our lives may be filled with ugly and complicated realities, it still remains that we are spiritual beings living in a spiritual world. And while the spirit of God may not be quite as blatantly present as a gigantic lion, in the gentle whisper of a breeze, in the energizing beat of a song, in the comforting embrace of a lover, and in the encouraging words of a friend, the spirit of God is still very much alive in our world today.

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