The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Disney's first movie adaptation of CS Lewis' seven-book Chronicles Of Narnia series, arrived on our screens in 2005, hoping to ride the pop-fantasy wave triggered by the success of the Harry Potter books and movies, as well as the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Alas, the movie proved to be a bit of a mess. Aside from serious structural problems, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe offered zero surprises to audiences who had sat through the big-screen versions of JK Rowling and Tolkien's work. Mind you, it was always going to be hard to seem fresh in their wake. But this also became bogged down in a row over its recurring Christian motifs, with author Philip Pullman condemning the movie and Lewis' work for apparently promoting racism and thinly-veiled religious propaganda.

Prince Caspian has already been a substantial hit in the US, topping the box office and raking in $140m so far. It is certainly an improvement on the first instalment. The young cast are more confident performers, the narrative has more focus and it's an altogether darker story -- well, as dark as a Disney movie with a PG certificate can be.

A year has passed since the four Penvensie siblings first tumbled into Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and conquered the nasty White Witch (Tilda Swinton, who pops up in a creepy cameo) with the help of lion king Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).

At the start of this sequel, the one-time kings and queens of Narnia are back living in Blitz-weary London until one day they are suddenly transported back to the magical land while waiting in a Tube station.

It turns out that 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time and the residents of that world are in dire straits. The Narnian creatures have been exiled to the forest by the reigning human Telmarine regime, headed by the evil Lord Miraz (Sergio Castellitto).

The four children, Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) soon come across Miraz's nephew and rightful heir, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), who has been forced to flee into the forests to escape his uncle's murderous clutches. Together, the 'fellowship' convince the Narnian creatures to follow them into battle against the gathering Telmarine forces, leading to several epic battle sequences laden down with -- you guessed it -- heavy Christian symbolism throughout.

Clocking in at more than two-and-a-half hours, Prince Caspian is thankfully not short on plot by any means, but the same repetitive problems that plagued the first movie set in pretty quickly here too.

There is an impressive battle sequence mid-way through as the motley Narnian coalition forces try to storm the Telmarines' castle, but this turns out to be the highpoint of the movie -- with almost an hour left to go.

The much-trumpeted Ben Barnes makes for a moderately appealing, if incredibly safe, leading man. Sporting shiny dark locks, dreamy eyes and a bizarre Spanish (?) accent, Barnes can't help but come across as Orlando Bloom-lite, a worrying state of affairs for any actor no doubt.

Of the four Penvensie kids, Keynes has come on the most as the maturing Edmund, but Moseley still doesn't cut it as supposed warrior and leader Peter. He continually looks as if he'd be more comfortable tallyhoing on a fox hunt than fighting enemies on horseback.

Director Andrew Adamson cut his teeth on the first two Shrek movies, and his touch intermittently shines through, particularly in the sequences featuring a spirited, belligerent mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard). Adamson brings more humour to this movie, which helps to leaven out its often sombre atmosphere.

On that note, there's a sense that Prince Caspian is persistently struggling to find the right tone. It's as if someone behind the scenes is striving for the dark majesty of The Two Towers, but they must suppress those urges to pander to the crucial kiddie and tweenage market.

For that reason, these movies will always seem ultimately short on ambition and daring.

Despite all the battle sequences that Prince Caspian sports, and for all its talk of warfare and sacrifice, I cannot recall seeing any blood and guts at any stage. There's a metaphor in there somewhere, I think -- and we all know how much the Narnia movies love those. n

- Declan Cashin