The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C S Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia have inspired generations of imaginations with tales of adventures in the world of Narnia. Now up to its Third installment, has this run of cinematic portrayals done the story justice?
Following on from the second film (The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian) the story follows Lucy and Edmund as they adjust to life away from Peter and Susan, away from the exciting life of Narnia and left dealing with a rather annoying cousin called Eustace. During a confrontation with the trouble making Eustace the trio start to notice that a painting with a Narnia ship has taken a life of its own, ultimately leading them all back to Narnia.
Landing in the middle of a Narnian ocean they are picked up by ship in the painting, which just so happens to be hosting King Caspian (once know as Prince Caspian). While Lucy and Edmund are reaquanted with old friends Eustace is thrown into a world far beyond his own imagination can handle. Caspian however is on a journey to find the seven lords of Narnia, an adventure Lucy and Edmund are quick to sign up for.
Cue sea monsters, dwarfs, villans and special effects to boot you have yourself a film of Narnian porportions.
Well… I’m just going to say it. This was most definitely more satisfying than the second movie. The special effects are brilliant, however this movie has spent a bit of time in Post, so you would imagine it would be good. Again the acting is as it was in the previous movies, perhaps a more little more wooden than before. However the new character Eustace is one of the most annoying kid actors ever.. and in the end i liked it, cause it brought something new to the storyline.
We watched this film in 3D, which seems to be all the rage these days, and to be honest i just don’t know why this was in 3D. It did nothing more for the movie in my honest opinion. Just because you can does not mean you should. 3D aside, the story was very well told, and this certainly does add to the franchise.
I do wonder if they will make the full Chronicles of Narnia. It took 5 years to get to the third film and i just get the feeling that by the time we get to the 4th installment (if we get there at all) the public may well be over the concept. I do hope we do, in its entirety The Chronicles of Narnia would make a very impressive piece of work.
FILMGUIDE rating:
Reviewed by: Skip Parker
