New DVDs: ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’
The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian Disney, $29.99/$39.99; Blu-ray, $40.99
After the massive success of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,†the relatively modest returns for the sequel “Prince Caspian†baffled many. But it really shouldn’t have. Absent the sense of discovery and wonder that made the first “Narnia†film so magical, what’s left is a well-made but fairly rote sword-and-sorcery-and-talking-animal movie, lightly draped in religious allegory. The DVD adds a few featurettes and a commentary track by director Andrew Adamson, while the double-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions also include deleted scenes and hours of behind-the-scenes material.
The Longshots Weinstein, $28.95; Blu-ray, $34.99
Even though “The Longshots†presents the true -- and recent -- story of the first girl to play Pop Warner football, it feels set in the distant past, like “Remember the Titans†or “Glory Road†or one of those other period pictures about underdogs overcoming prejudice. Director Fred Durst -- yep, that Fred Durst -- bathes the movie in a warm, familiar glow, and Ice Cube is likably gruff as the washed-up uncle who helps his niece (Keke Palmer), but there’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before. The DVD is equally puffy, offering superficial featurettes and deleted scenes.
Step Brothers Sony, $28.96/$34.95; Blu-ray, $43.95
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play grown men forced to move in together when their respective mother and father get married, and while the premise is amusingly self-critical, the jokes are snappish and crude in the most predictable ways. The double-disc DVD and Blu-ray editions are more inspired, adding more than an hour of alternate scenes and a commentary track sung by director Adam McKay, Ferrell and Reilly over live Jon Brion accompaniment.
Wanted Universal, $29.98/$34.98; Blu-ray, $40.99
Stir together “The Matrix†and “The Bourne Identity,†add a sprinkle of “Gone in 60 Seconds†and you’ve got the overcooked, overseasoned “Wanted,†starring James McAvoy as an office drone who gets recruited into a team of gifted assassins. “Wanted†is long on style and short on coherent plot -- although Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman look good as McAvoy’s mentors. DVD and Blu-ray editions are packed with alternate and extended scenes.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe 20th Century Fox, $29.99/$34.98; Blu-ray, $39.99
It took seven years for “The X-Files†creator Chris Carter to deliver the long-promised feature-length continuation of the TV series, and though the audience for extraterrestrials and conspiracy theories evidently shrunk during that stretch, “The X-Files: I Want to Believe†is an entertaining supernatural serial killer movie. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s offbeat FBI agents investigate a series of disappearances that might involve a defrocked psychic priest (Billy Connolly). The double-disc DVD and Blu-ray sweeten the pot with a 90-minute making-of documentary.
Murray is a freelance writer.
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