After much discontent with the previous Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, you may expect Michael Apted’s (Amazing Grace) Voyage of the Dawn Treader to be less than satisfactory. But, in fact, the movie based on C. S. Lewis’ successful book series does not disappoint.
Now many people might dislike the movie because of some straying from the book, but as a whole, the film was very well made and delivered a good and solid story in an entertaining way, which is exactly what it was supposed to do.
The film opens to show Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes) attempting to enlist into the British army under the alias Alberta Scrubb. Unlike the first two movies, Voyage of the Dawn Treader features the two younger Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy (Georgie Henley), who are staying with their aunt and uncle while their older siblings, Peter and Susan are in America. We also meet their extremely unlikeable cousin Eustace (Will Poulter), a very logical and annoying boy who likes to tease Edmund and Lucy about their belief in Narnia. Suddenly, a painting of a ship at sea comes to life and Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace are sucked into the world of Narnia once again. There they are discovered by King Caspian on his ship, the Dawn Treader, and set off on a mission to find seven swords in order to stop a mysterious evil Mist.
In this movie we see the darkness and insecurities in all the main characters: Edmund always feels secondary (first to Peter and now to Caspian); Lucy underestimates her worth to her family and Narnia; and Caspian longs to find his father and to be a good king. In the end, they must all face deadly temptations and defeat them. Aslan, voiced by Liam Neeson (A-Team, Taken), makes a minimal appearance in this installment of the series, and only appears in the end in a scene that is reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz’s “You had it all along,” scene.
Because the sets and props were made by Weta Workshops, an award-winning special effects and prop company, everything looked very real. What I was very happy with was the quality of the CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery). Many movies will give you poorly structured monsters and magical creatures, but only Weta will give you real-looking magic without making it so obviously known that it’s not. I saw Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D, but it did not make the movie any better. Other than some ocean splashes or some dragon-tail whips, the 3D did not impact the film’s quality by much and will just cost you a few extra bucks. If you have a choice between seeing the movie in 3D or in regular, go for the cheaper option, you won’t miss out on much.
Like the first Chronicles of Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is adventurous, with frequent comic relief from the warrior-mouse Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg) and even from Eustace. A rivalry between Reep and Eustace proves to be most amusing, and eventually turns into a friendship. At this the audience says, “Aw” but thinks, “Well, of course that was going happen”. Except for a slightly cheesy Beauty-and-the-Beast-metamorphosis moment, I found everything to be satisfactory.
Though the story line was well written and the acting was more than adequate, the directing left some things to be desired. Michael Apted is known for his documentaries, not his science-fiction. Still, for true lovers of fantasy and Narnia, Apted could not have done a better job.
On the whole, Voyage of the Dawn Treader was a fun film that definitely made up for the colossal failure of the Prince Caspian movie and tied up all loose story ends that may have been left hanging. This movie may have been lacking some directorial magic, but one thing it does not do is disappoint. If magical adventure in another world appeals to you, go see The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is Rated PG.
