Based on the second novel in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia saga, Prince Caspian takes viewers down a much darker alley of the fantasy film genre. Where The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could share shelf space with Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, Caspian is better suited to accompany The Lord of the Rings. But the movie’s fear of following its more adult-themed thread all the way through to its logical conclusion could ultimately be its downfall.

It’s one year after the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the former kings and queens of Narnia — Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) — find themselves back in that faraway realm only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the land’s Golden Age has faded into legend. Its magical talking animals and mythical creatures exist as little more than folk tales to the Telemarines, a race of humans led by the merciless Lord Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). The mighty lion Aslan (Liam Neeson) has not been seen in a thousand years.

The four children have been summoned back to Narnia by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), the young heir to the Telemarine throne, to combat his evil uncle Miraz. With the help of a crusty, valiant dwarf, Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage); a courageous talking mouse, Reepicheep (Eddie Izzard); and a mistrustful Black Dwarf, Nikabrik (Warwick Davis); they lead the Narnians on a journey to restore magic and glory to the land.

Narnia has become a much darker place — trees no longer dance; animals have devolved to their more aggressive, primitive states; and mythical creatures like dwarves, centaurs and minotaurs live in hiding for fear of extinction. The land’s human overlords, the aforementioned Telemarines, are no better, resorting to lies, betrayal, and murder in order to maintain rule (think a magical version of Showtime’s The Tudors).