The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader: Review By CBF

Back in 2008, when Walt Disney Studios released "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" to audiences everywhere, it didn't fare well as expected. At least, not as well as "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", the first film in the franchise and one of the most celebrated children's books of all time. The truth of the matter, as it turned out, was that "Prince Caspian" is a much darker story, and therefore resulted in a darker film surrounding war, bloodshed and violent betrayal. Disney marked this a turning point in the series, and dropped the franchise altogether shortly after that film's release. Many looked at this action by Disney as a huge mistake, but still the franchise lived on, thanks to 20th Century Fox, who saw the magic and huge following of the books and potential future films, and gave it a new breath of life. While that new life gave way to this third film, many of the producers and even the merger company, Walden Media, are still present here, and that's a good thing. The director of the last two films, Andrew Adamson, falls back to Producer, while Perry Moore remains on as Executive Producer and Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely pen the script as they have throughout the series. That gives the new film being financed by a new studio almost the exact same vibe as the others, which is something drastically needed for the overall scope of a motion picture franchise. They offer a wonderful adaptation of the chronological fifth book in the series, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".

Story

The story starts out like the previous two films, showing the Pevensie children and their lives in England. Although this time, it's only Edmund and Lucy who are staying with their aunt and uncle in Cambridge while the war is taking place, and their motor-mouth cousin Eustace. The time there is quick, and we are suddenly taken back to Narnia, this time from a framed picture of the "Dawn Treader", a Narnian ship on the high seas, that is literally ripped right from the pages of the C.S. Lewis novel. Once aboard the ship, Edmund and Lucy reunite with Caspian, now King of Narnia and Captain Drinian's First Mate aboard the "Dawn Treader". Eustace just wants to go home and freaks out the whole time, talking smack to everybody and about everything, and for the most part annoys everyone, including the audience. After a quick meet and greet with their old friend Reepicheep, Caspian informs the crew the identities of their cast-aways: Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant, now the High King and High Queen of Narnia, the last of the remaining Kings and Queens of Old. They soon learn that King Caspian is on a journey. His Telmarine uncle, the previous king, Miraz, who had killed Caspian's father, while still in rule had attempted to slay the rest of the chain of command, leading the remaining Seven Narnian Lords to flee to the Lone Islands on the Eastern Sea on the edge of Narnia's waters. Caspian's mission is to seek out what they were after. Little is known what lies beyond the Lone Islands, rumors of sea creatures and the mythical Aslan's country, but Caspian is determined to find out as he completes the journey.

I enjoyed this adventure. There was a lot of elements that they took from the book, and it was wonderful visually seeing in live-action what I had read about in my youth: the "Book of Incantations," a brief glimpse of Aslan's country, and all the intriguing islands. Two things not derived from the book and which exist solely in this film, however, were the Green Mist and the brief cameos of The White Witch and King Caspian IX. The mist was somewhat overplayed as a mysterious distraction, but handled well in a few scenes when used as a vessel for temptation, especially leading to Edmund's fear of the White Witch's return. The Blue Star which leads the characters to Ramandu's Island is from the book, but the identity of the girl whom embodies the star is not revealed there. She is revealed in the film as Liliandril, the daughter of Ramandu, and King Caspian's future Queen and wife, though that information is not told in this film, but is hinted at and is a nice homage to the book. Especially since Caspian had told Lucy that he has not found a queen because no woman compares to the connection he shared with Susan. The creatures they encounter are handled well, and the film is a nice mixture of things which are from the source material and a few things which are not. I felt the film had great pacing, venturing from one adventure to the next with not much slow down-time, and had a magnificent story to tell. The viewer must also remember that the Narnia films are all based upon children's fantasy novels, and should be taken lightly as such.

Acting

Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie: Henley plays this character without skipping a beat from the last two films. Here, she shows a tad more emotion and gives Lucy more depth than we have seen so far, with her character arc leaning towards her admiration of her sister Susan. Henley is even dressed to look more grown and a tad resembling of Susan. Lucy has now replaced Susan as the High Queen of Narnia - and it is justified by Henley's acting ability, which has developed with each film. I used to think she wasn't very good at acting as a little kid, but here she shows she has matured fast into her career.

Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie: Edmund represents the bravery of all the Pevensie children. Peter is the courage, Susan is the determination, Lucy is the heart, but Edmund - Edmund is the brave. Skandar plays this attribute well with each film, and I especially felt that he stepped up his role in "Caspian", which he continues here in "Voyage". Edmund has replaced Peter as the High King of Narnia - and even wields his mighty sword for a brief time. Skandar makes Edmund his own, and I hope to see him in other movies in the near future.

Ben Barnes as King Caspian: Ben Barnes is quite the new actor. He made his mark with the last film in the series, and he continues the role here. Caspian does not show much emotion in this one as he did in the last, but Ben still makes the most of what is written on the page. His scenes with the Pevensies embark a sense of nostalgia. A wise choice for Caspian. I hope he returns in the next two films, if Fox makes them.

Will Poulter as Eustace Scrubb: Poulter is a brand new actor, fresh from his first real film, "Son of Rambow", and isn't really much to discuss until the last act of the film, where he shows true character. I felt any child actor could portray a cruel, annoying, pestering kid such as Eustace, but near the end of the film, the character becomes more likable and signifies a potential hero, which I thought Will pulled off in a good way. Eustace is younger than his cousins, and therefore may make a return in the next film should they make it, and I feel it will only help Poulter's career. I can definitely see something in the kid for him to become a better actor as he grows older. We need a new generation of talented Hollywood actors, and hopefully, Will Poulter will be amongst them.

Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan: Well, it's Liam Neeson. He's the man, and his voice is instantly recognizable. He again does a wonderful job bringing Aslan to life. There's a religious undertone in all of the movies regarding the Great Lion, and Aslan himself tells about it here upon the Pevensies' return to their world. I'm sure that may throw some people off with its controversial implication of who Aslan truly is and what his country represents, but it is in the book and straight from the pen of C.S. Lewis himself. I'll let you make up your minds on that one.

Simon Pegg as the voice of Reepicheep: Simon Pegg has been a rising star for a while now, and his characterization of Reepicheep is splendid. Very solid voice acting from Pegg.

Tilda Swinton as The White Witch: I wasn't expecting this cameo, as it wasn't in the book, such as the cameo in the previous film was. Nevertheless, it's great to Tilda in the role again, and left me wondering if they strategically placed her in this film to hint towards "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair", where she eventually re-materializes. Another hint to that potential sequel is the mentioning of Jill Pole's visit at the end of the film, and Aslan telling Eustace that he will return.

Directing

Michael Apted directs this brand new outing. His direction is not exactly what Andrew Adamson's was, but given that Adamson stayed on as Producer, the transition is fluid. Apted directed the James Bond film "The World is Not Enough", where he used multiple angle shots for intense and suspenseful action scenes, and brings that same style to this film, if not more subtly.

Visuals

The special effects were a tremendous spectacle to behold. If I have one praise for the Narnia films, it would be that they never falter with the visuals. There was never a moment when I thought to myself, 'Oh, that looked totally fake like a video game,' like I do with a lot of special effects in films these days. Of course, it's not exactly the digital superiority as ILM's work on "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", but it works well for Narnia.

Overall

The film was a successful return to magic that the first film in the franchise introduced audiences to. The second film was darker and more violent, since the story was, and didn't have the same feel as the first. I feel they all have a different feel, as each story is different, and it's a shame Walt Disney Studios did not feel the same way. After all, they put out the somewhat-violent "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, but they won't stand for one dark Narnia film? Very illogical on their part. Regardless, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" turns out to be a thrilling adventure on the high seas, and takes viewers to the very edges of the world that Narnians never knew existed. And while the events of the book are not presented in order for the film, all the elements are there and are done in a way that tie together better and make for a spectacular exploit. If you liked all the Narnia films so far, this one is more of the same fantasy, albeit a much more enchanting caper. If you didn't like the second but enjoyed the first, then "Voyage" is a return to form, without all those talking creatures.