Are you ready to go back to Narnia? That's the million dollar question — actually $200-million-plus, but who's counting? — on the lips of every Disney stockholder as Prince Caspian, part two of the Mouse House's nascent C.S. Lewis franchise, gets ready to barnstorm theaters worldwide. Since 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe grossed something like $450 million internationally, it's probably a safe bet that lots of folks are hankering for a return visit to Lewis' enchanted realm of wonderment.

New Zealand native Andrew Adamson (Shrek) reprises his directorial chores, but Caspian is darker and more somber in tone than the more tyke-friendly Chronicles. Closer to Middle Earth — or at least Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy — than to Oz this time, Adamson has traded in the previous installment's richly imagined fairy-tale/storybook universe with all of its attendant dwarves and Chatty Cathy creatures for an old-fashioned medieval adventure story replete with swashbuckling derring-do, towering castles and clanging sword play galore. In fact, the CGI-heavy climactic battle could almost be mistaken for outtakes from the film-ending clash of the titans in Jackson's Two Towers.

Set 1,300 years after the events depicted in Chronicles, Caspian returns the four Pevensie kids to Narnia where they assist the titular prince (a properly dashing, if vaguely accented Ben Barnes) in a campaign to reclaim the throne from Lord Miraz (the fine Italian actor Sergio Castellitto merrily camping it up like Rossano Brazzi in The Christmas That Almost Wasn't), his Snidley Whiplash of an uncle. Providing moral ballast - although he's not nearly as visible a presence this time out - is messianic lion Aslan (authoritatively voiced once again by Liam Neeson).

If I don't love Prince Caspian as much as The Chronicles of Narnia, that's only because wide-eyed childhood innocence is always more appealing than steely-eyed teenage aggression. Plus, it doesn't wear its butt-busting length — just under two-and-a-half-hours — quite as comfortably. (The long-winded, exposition-heavy opening scenes are crammed with more otherworldly palace intrigue than any movie since Attack of the Clones.) I also missed my favorite Narnia character (Tilda Swinton's deliciously creepy White Witch) who's relegated to cameo status since Witchy-Poo is trapped in a sheet of ice. Now is that any way to treat a recent Oscar winner like the fearsome Swinton?

As for the Pevensies, Chronicles scene-stealer Lucy (Georgie Henley) takes a bit of a back seat here to older siblings Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell), both of whom have some very interesting character arcs to traverse. (Peter becomes quite the warrior-stud while Susan morphs into a debutante-ball version of Sarah Connor.) Edmund (Skandar Keynes), alas, pretty much remains the odd man/boy out. Maybe he'll have more to do in Part III. Because there are five more Lewis books yet to adapt, I'm guessing the Narnia movies will be around for quite some time. You won't hear any complaints from me as long as numbers three to seven are as well-crafted, visually sumptuous and genuinely satisfying as the first two chapters.

Prince Caspian: Opens friday areawide.