The Chronicles of Narnia films have managed to dumbfound me. Upon seeing The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe back in 2005 I didn’t mind it at first, but a couple of follow-up viewings left me bored and disinterested. Going into Prince Caspian a few years later my expectations were low and I actually came out of the theater mildly entertained, but ever since I haven’t been able to sit through it again. This makes me wonder if my current feelings toward The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader can be trusted or if I will have to eat my words should I ever decide to watch it again.
For the moment, I was entertained by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Fox has taken over the Narnian reigns of the one-time Disney franchise and this third installment shaves over 30 minutes off the running time of its predecessors, yet tells just as much story if not more. This trimming of the narrative ensures things move along at a much faster clip rather than acting as if these films are on the epic scale of say Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter series. Especially considering the success of those two franchises were no doubt the primary motivation in getting the stories of C.S. Lewis on the big screen.
This time around we are only following the story of two of the Pevensie children from the first two films — Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) — as they find themselves thrown back into Narnia and rescued at sea by Caspian played by Ben Barnes reprising his role as the now King of Narnia. However, while Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter Pevensie (William Moseley) are limited to only cameo appearances, a new face joins Edmund and Lucy on their journey in the form of their loud mouthed and obnoxious cousin Eustace, played with a welcome bit of energy by Will Poulter.
The story of Dawn Treader finds our heroes enjoying what is assumed to be peace in Narnia for the first time, but it isn’t long before word of an evil mist originating from a dark island captures their attention. In order to defeat the evil they must gather the seven lost swords of the seven lords previously banished by Caspian’s evil uncle. It’s a fairly out-of-the-blue narrative that doesn’t really make much sense in the way it all comes together, but it gives good excuse for sending our cast of characters from fantastical island to fantastical island where they deal with all sorts of magic and mysterious creatures. And considering they have seven items to collect it gives them more than enough to do in the 112 minutes of running time, limiting the number of garrulous ramblings prone to infect a film that wants to be more epic than it really is.
From dragons to sea monsters, the effects here are quite impressive and like Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, this is another post-converted 3D feature that, at times, loses any depth the 3D may otherwise offer, but at other times does a fair job in its conversion. It’s certainly better than the efforts made with Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender, though I would never say this is a film worth shelling out the extra dollars for the visual gimmick.
Where I found most interest in Dawn Treader and where I suspect families will find the most enjoyment is in the relative understanding of growing up. The Pevensie children have reached an age where they need to move beyond Narnia in contrast to their younger cousin Eustace. The difference in age and experience with these three characters is well represented. There are plenty of morals to be found and while they stick out like a sore thumb for older viewers they may have just enough subtlety for younger audiences, and it seems Fox hasn’t tried one bit to shy away from this fact.
Throughout the film Lucy’s self-esteem is lacking, Edmund’s looking to prove something and Eustace has his own set of issues to deal with. Tack onto that the film’s religious aspects that have been existent since the cracking of the stone slab in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and you have a film that may polarize audiences disinterested in being taught morals in their late year blockbuster fare.
Beyond the morals of the story and the action sequences I can honestly say I didn’t mind the near two hours I spent watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I’ll admit I wouldn’t rush out to see it again and don’t have much interest in catching it at home on Blu-ray, but it’s a perfectly fine story that finally seems to have learned the lesson the first two films struggled with; the fact you can’t force a film into being epic just by making it a half hour longer.
