How I would flesh out 'Prince Caspian' by fantasia
Part Two - Story Arc (with Aslan, Susan, and Lucy)
So lets talk about part of the book that all PC filmmakers seem to be afraid to touch, which is the bit with Aslan, Susan, and Lucy going off and having a party while the boys go to war.
But is that really what happens? I don't think so.
What I think filmmakers fail to understand is that Aslan is the one who is really freeing most of the Narnians and Telmarines from tyranny while Peter, Caspian, and Edmund keep Miraz distracted (hence all of the celebrating and partying). In fact, the boys have a relatively minor, though very important, role.
I would focus heavily on this part. It starts with Aslan awaking the rest of the Narnians from their slumber, calling out the Greek gods and characters, and they're all celebrating being free for the first time in hundreds of years. I probably wouldn't dwell on the partying, I think it should happen as they're traveling along.
And THEN Aslan and company go free the oppressed Telmarines. (Some shots at the oppression from when Caspian is a small boy would be good.) So I would play this up big time. And have Susan, Lucy, and some of the other Narnians help. For example, Susan should be left as Susan the Gentle, but there are other ways of assisting in a battle besides shooting arrows this way and that. She hates fighting, but she also hates people being abused. How about having her and Lucy stop the man from beating the boy? Or the girls walk into the school and overthrow the evil teacher? And Lucy has her vial with her if I recall correctly, so she and Susan can help heal people and creatures in addition to everything else going on.
If you all read my post (that was then turned into the news story) from a year or so ago, you may remember that I've always felt the Walden movies really missed out on the joy of Narnia and this was their biggest flaw. They had all the epic battles and danger, but I wasn't super excited by the idea of ever visiting that place because it seemed like I'd probably die the moment I set my foot in there. This is the sort of joyous moments from the book that I'm really craving to see in the movie. It is there in the book, but it really needs to be played up in the movie. Let the other billion fantasy films out there focus on battles.
Part 3 - Story Arc (with Caspian, Peter, and Edmund)
Wait, what? No battles? Ok, we need some battles.
But instead of the castle night raid in PC, the big battle needs to be the one that Caspian attempts to lead and loses. AND, I can't remember if it actually says this in the book, or even implies it, but I think that the reason that Caspian loses and Pevensies/Aslan isn't there, is because Peter chooses to go down rather than up. That way there are clear consequences for Peter and Lucy not choosing to follow/believe in Aslan.
But as I mentioned in the character post, I would really like to see a fast friendship form between Caspian, Peter, and Edmund. And once they all come together, and they defeat the hag, werewolf, and Nikabrik, things should start to go their way. Peter IS Aslan's number one general, Aslan leaves him in charge to take care of things, Peter can handle it. They have a successful duel with Miraz (thanks to his traitorous generals), and then a successful battle against the Telmarine army (thanks to Peter and Edmund's war knowledge), and drive them back to the bridge where they are trapped between Aslan + free Narnians + free Telmarines and the Peter + Edmund + Caspian + Old Narnian group.
Most importantly, and to sum up, what I would like the filmmakers to show, is that EVERYONE has a part to play in freeing Narnia. The girls and Aslan don't go have a drunken brawl while the boys are dropping like flies on the battlefield. There is a danger of having this feel like a repeat of LWW where Aslan + girls are saving the stone statues in the Witch's castle while the boys are on the battlefield, which the Walden movie managed to avoid that feel by changing it up, I'll admit that. I think the best way to overcome it is (and I'm repeating myself, I know) by showing that the Pevensies have grown in competence and character and are capable of assisting Aslan (not that he needs it).