Early on a character intones gravely that Narnia may be a more savage place than we remember it, and although he’s addressing the Pevensie siblings, he might as well be talking directly to the audience. Longer, darker, and decidedly more violent, the second adaptation from C.S. Lewis’ seven-part fantasy series is a slightly better film that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, if only because director Andrew Adamson seems to have firmer grasp of the material and subsequently a more consistent tone. The battle sequences are grandiose and moving, especially one that serves as a hard lesson in the excesses of pride, but the violence is tempered by well-placed comic relief and an upbeat ending that relies a bit too much of the deus ex machina reappearance of a certain savior-lion. (Hollywood Jewel 16, Waco, TX)