Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Release Date: December 10th, 2010

Click here for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Trailer

Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) and her older brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are the last of the Pevensie children to remain in Europe as their older siblings Peter (William Moselye) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are away in America. Lucy and Peter are forced to live with their dreadful cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter), a smart, annoying boy who despises Lucy and Edmund and their stories of Narnia, stories which Eustace does not believe at all.

While the three children are arguing one day, water begins pouring out of a painting on the wall and fills the children's room up with water, transporting Lucy, Edmund and Eustace to Narnia. There they are picked up by the Dawn Treader, the greatest ship in the Narnian fleet. The ship is led by Caspian (Ben Barnes) who is now the King of Narnia. Caspian informs Lucy and Edmund that he is in search of the seven lost Lords of Narnia, who his uncle banished when he usurped the Narnian throne.

Edmund and Lucy's journey will take them to places they have never been before and will have them face foes they have never imagined. The gang will find themselves in Aslan's land and will face such threats as sea snakes and a terrible green mist that slavers sacrifice people to. This test will surely be the greatest one Lucy and Edmund have ever faced.



The third movie in the Narnia series sees the return of Skander Keynes and Georgie Henley, who reprise their roles as Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the four Pevensie children. Also returning from the last movie is Ben Barnes as Caspian, Simon Pegg as the voice of Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse, and Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan, the lion. A new character also joins the ranks, Will Poulter who plays Eustace Scrubb, the annoying cousin of Lucy and Edmund

A lot of people liked this movie better than the previous one, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Many fans thought the previous movie was boring. This one, however, was anything but boring. It had a lot of action as well as a deep story line that brought out the true characters in everybody involved.

When I first saw reviews for this film, I was a little skeptical. I saw that only the younger two Pevensie children were in this film and, to be honest, I always found them to be particularly annoying in the other films. However, I was thouroughly surprised and pleased with their performances and how they have matured, both as actors and as characters.

I was pleased with the action in this movie as well. Keynes and Barnes were both very good with their action scenes and I loved seeing Henley get in on some of the fighting. She was always so useless when it came to fighting in the other films, so it was nice to see this change of pace for her.

Old characters aside, there were a lot of new characters in this film. First off is Will Poulter who plays Eustace Scrubb, the younger cousin of Edmund and Lucy. Although his character was younger, I loved how "grown up" he was. He talked like a well educated adult and acted like a prissy, always-follows-the-rules type of person which was a nice contract to the magical, carefree and childlike attitudes of the other characters. Another new character is Reepicheep. While the character is not necessarily new, the person who does his voice is. Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek) portrays the swashbuckling mouse instead of Eddie Izzard and Bill Nighy who portrayed the character in the other films.

I felt like this movie had a lot more going for it. There was a lack of major battle scenes like in the first two films, but there were a lot of little fight scenes sprinkled throughout the entire film. There also seemed to be more plot and more underlying themes. Everybody knows that these movies are based on the novel series by C.S. Lewis and that Lewis is known for his symbolism related to Christianity that he places in the novels. The movie did a good job of staying true to that area of the novels. The plot was also much better than the last one. It seemed to have more meaning and it also seemed to really portray the struggles faced by Edmund, Lucy, Caspian and Eustace.
Overall, this movie was very good. I was pleased with the progression of character for both Keynes and Henley, and I thought all the other characters were great too. Barnes did a great job portraying Caspian, and Poutler was a great new addition as Eustace. The plot was definitely more engaging and more intense, and it can really grab the attention of the audience and hold it until the very end. If you loved the first two Narnia movies and you loved the novels, then you will not want to miss this one, especially considering that it is the last movie to feature any of the Pevensie children.

I give The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 8.5 Creepy Green Mists that Like to Kidnap Slaves out of 10.

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