Prince Caspian

Orlando Bloom II?

Digging through recent news I came across this peek at Narnia: Prince Caspian I'd missed last month.

If I'm being honest, I was closer to merely happy the first film didn't screw anything up than really excited by it. The casting was so-so, the script a B-, and Andrew Adamson as director was just on the thumbs-up side of adequate.

But it ultimately worked because the pivotal scene depicting Aslan's sacrifice packed a huge emotional punch, the final battle sequence was thrilling and the look of the film was a feast for the eyes. (So perhaps I should cut Adamson some slack?)

Hard to tell much from this brief featurette, but Ben Barnes looks to be a solid acquisition to the team for Narnia II. Plucked from near obscurity, Barnes is clearly on a track down the Orlando Bloom road to stardom. He's actually a bit more masculine than the above pouty pretty boy mug suggests.

Feels right for the Caspian role, but it's been years since I've read the book.

Barnes can also be seen in the prologue for Stardust, in theaters now.