Stouthearted badgers, macho mice, dubious dwarves and a conquered kingdom. Welcome to ‘Narnia—the wounded years’.

Those ever-lovin’ ‘sons of Adam and daughters of Eve’—Peter (William Moseley) Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and the very sweet Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley)—are whisked back to Aslan’s land by a horn-blown SOS.

Thirteen hundred years have passed since the Pevensies had left the fabled realm, and they’ve got some derring do to, um, do, to support noble interloper (and their summoner) Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes).

Director, co-screenwriter and producer Andrew Adamson (of Shrek fame) has done a sterling job of adapting the novel for the screen. The liberties he takes (such as the cameo from Tilda Swinton’s ice queen from the first Narnia flick) generally pay off and do not compromise the plot’s integrity.

After Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth sagas and the Harry Potter flicks, moviegoers have exacting standards for action and battle cinematography and CGI characters—these are more than satisfied here as, all the while, Aslan plays hide and seek to test the kids’ faith.

While billed as a family adventure (a rather lengthy one at that) this deserves its M rating for ‘frequent battle violence’. It is principally (screen)written and shot for older children and teenagers.

Open House film reviewer Barry Gittins is editor of On Fire magazine, and a regular reviewer for the Salvos' Warcry magazine: www.salvationarmy.org.au/warcry