| violence |
7/10
Blood shows up on a Telmarine general's lip after Miraz socks him in the face. And it spreads across Caspian's hand when the hag slashes it. Most often, though, when swords are plunged into bodies, they don't come out sheathed in red. But the point here is that swords are plunged into bodies. Repeatedly. As are crossbow bolts, arrows and knives.
The fighting evokes images of ethnic cleansing as Telmarines seek to eradicate the Narnians from their own land. Defending the assault, Miraz hisses, "They've been breeding like cockroaches under a rock." A soldier's head is severed at one point. It's swift and not overly graphic, but we do see a helmet-clad orb roll away from the body. A minotaur is pushed off a high castle balcony, and the camera never blinks as he tumbles, crashes into a bulwark, then thuds to the ground, presumably dead. Equally intense is a scene in which another minotaur holds up a descending gate to allow his comrades to escape. The Telmarines riddle his body with arrows and he collapses, the gate slamming down on top of him. The remaining Narnians are trapped and await their doom.
Huge catapults hurl boulders at the Narnians' makeshift fortress, blasting walls, bringing down doorways, etc. A ploy by the Narnians to collapse the earth underneath their enemies' feet succeeds, and we see dozens of horses and riders fall into the pit that's created. Trees awaken and wipe out sections of armored men and animals with their flailing roots and limbs. The river-goddepicted as water that coalesces into the rough form of a manrips a bridge from its tethers and destroys everyone on it.
Hand-to-hand combat also gets front-and-center attention. Peter and Caspian violently cross swords before they discover they're on the same side. Caspian puts a sword to his uncle's throat, forcing him out of bed. And Peter takes on Miraz in an interminable and armor-denting test of superiority. Then, when Peter refuses to kill his fading opponent, one of Miraz's generals finishes the man off. (We see his body crumple with an arrow sticking out of it.)
The dwarf Trumpkin is bound and gagged in a boat, then thrown overboard to drown. When Peter's shoulder is dislocated, Edmund wrenches it back into place. For a moment, Susan dangles (frighteningly) over a high ledge. In England, Peter gets into a frivolous fight with another boy. They push, shove, hit and kick. |
| frightening |
8/10
There is a scene in which the Narnians, Prince Caspian and the Pevensies raid Miraz's castle. Most of the Narnians escape. A Minotaur gets crushed by the gate; the rest of the Narnians are all killed; we see their dead bodies scattered across the courtyard .
Soldiers surround a bed and all shoot, intending to kill its occupant
Hideous animals emerge from a dark opening and one calls up the spirit of the witch. An animal cuts Caspian's hand with a knife and it bleeds. The witch tries to coax Caspian into giving her a drop of Adam's blood.
Intense battle action throughout.
Alt rating: PG-13 for Intense Epic Battle action and violence, brief sexuality, suggestive dialogue, thematic elements and some frightening images.
20/50
Recommended for 10+
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