This Summer really challenged a notion about film that I've held for a long time: The first movies in a series are almost always the best! Sure, that debate can be fun to have&ellips; but the majority of sequels are simply sub-par, and I don't think that is up for much debate. But this summer we saw The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight make leaps of progress from their last iterations. And I would now like to add Prince Caspian to that list of sequels that improve on the original film!

Prince Caspian is a compelling film, if not a great one. I would contend that it is a vast improvement over the previous installment: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Almost all of the visual effects are more successful at capturing the wonder and grandeur of a different world. And the action sequences feel less like Lord of the Rings Light than the first film. This is interesting to me because I actually saw the first film in theaters, projected with huge scope and blaring sound. Yet I was more impressed with the visual craftsmanship of Prince Caspian on a home television in High Definition. And although some of the effects here are more successful than others, I would say this is a pretty good visual spectacle to try out in High Definition.

The biggest issue I had with the first film was a personal one: I just didn't think Aslan worked as a GCI creation. He was too obviously computerized for me, and since Aslan is a physical representation of Jesus himself, I just couldn't get past that. It was sort of like, if Aslan doesn't work, then the whole thing doesn't work. Those were my initial thoughts after seeing the first film, and yet at that time I also contended that the film's creators had found the perfect set of four actors to play the lead humans, the Pevensies.

What works to Prince Caspian's advantage is that these great little actors have grown up some, and we believe they could battle or govern a nation, even if they are still a little bit young. Yet Aslan is nowhere to be found in Narnia, and many don't even believe in Him because He's been absent so long. He is present in the hearts of the Pevensies, and in some of the Narnian believers' hearts. But CGI Aslan doesn't show up until much later, and His off-screen presence has made His CGI presence more potent for this humble reviewer.

Prince Caspian also has some spiritual punch to it that really worked for me... and I can be pretty cynical sometimes. In that cynicism, I sometimes ask some pretty hard questions of God. One of those questions is often something like this: Why don't you just come show up? God, why don't you just show yourself to us so that we don't have to doubt, or struggle? Lucy has a similar question for Aslan when He finally does meet with her. His response? "Things never happen the same way twice, dear one."

I was pretty moved by that idea. Jesus already has come. Jesus already won a pretty flashy victory over sin and death. There is no reason for Him to come and do it again. Now He is doing a new thing here on earth, and it just doesn't look like it did when Jesus was here. But that new thing is exciting, and God's role in the world today is a bit more like Aslan's role here in Prince Caspian. Sure, we need to believe on faith more often than not, but in that faith He strengthens and matures us. It's a bit messier than I'd prefer, but as the prophet Bono says, "always pain before the child is born."

Aslan's statement also rings true for Prince Caspian as a film. Things never happen the same way twice. And for anyone who struggled with the first film like I did, I recommend this installment. Andrew Adamson has written and directed a film superior to his earlier run, and Prince Caspian has me rooting for this series to play itself out on the big screen.