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.

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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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Star Trek

Release Date: May 7th, 2009

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"Space....the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before."

J.J. Abrams(LOST) is boldly going where no man has gone before with his take on Star Trek. While this movie isn't the first in the Star Trek franchise, it is, however, the first one to feature a cast of new people portraying existing characters. All of the other movies have coincided with their respective tv series and featured the original cast from those series. Abrams takes all ne actors and puts them into the roles of the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

Star Trek centers around the original crew of the Enterprise when the are first assigned to it. A Federation vessel carrying the unborn Captain Kirk and his mother and father is exploring the vast reaches of space when a highly advanced Romulan ship appears out of a lightning storm and attacks them without warning. The Captain of the federation vessel is transported onto the Romulan ship to meet with it's captain and negotiate. The Romulans are looking for Mr. Spock. But when the captain says he has never heard of Mr. Spock, he is killed and the Romulans commence attack on the Federation ship. In a last attempt to save his wife, unborn child, and the rest of the crew, the now acting Captain Kirk stays behind and flies the ship directly into the Romulan vessel. Flash forward 20 years. Kirk(Chris Pine), now living in Iowa, is a loner and a troublemaker not knowing his true place in the galaxy. When he starts a fight with a group of Starfleet cadets, he is approached by Captain Christopher Pike(Bruce Greenwood) who talks Kirk into joining Starfleet. On his way to Starfleet Academy, Kirk meets Leonard McCoy(Karl urban) and bumps into he beautiful Nyota Uhura(Zoe Saldana) whom he met in the bar before fighting the cadets. At Starfleet, it is obvious that Kirk desires one thing, to be the best. To be the best, he needs to beat the Kobiashi Test, a simulator designed to test a captain's ability to command in the face of certain death. The test is unbeatable so Kirk decides to "cheat". When he is confronted by the test's creator, Mr. Spock(Zachary Quinto), Kirk faces sever punishment. However, Kirk's trial is interrupted when Starfleet receives an emergency distress call from the planet Vulcan, who is being hit by a severe natural disaster. All the ships in Starfleet are sent to assist. But when Kirk realizes that the natural disaster bears the same resemblance to the attack on his family's ship by the Romulans, Kirk knows it is a trap. Nero(Eric Bana) the Romulan Captain of the ship attacking Vulcan, requests the presence of Captain Pike, who obliges and leaves Spock as acting captain. Nero's plans are finally brought to light when he destroys Vulcan by creating a black hole in the center of the planet. Nero plans on destroying every planet in the federation starting with Earth. It is up to Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise to defeat Nero and save the Federation.

Now there are different versions of Star Trek fans ranging from the interested to the hardcore Trekkie/Trekker fans. I would place my self more towards the middle of the spectrum but I was still very excited when this new movie came out. Seeing that it was directed by J.J. Abrams made even more excited since I am a total LOST junkie. Now I have seen most of the other Star Trek movies and this one was by far the best for one reason; the fact that it was different. All the other movies had to do with the tv show casts. Abrams took totally different new people and made a sort of "Origins" movie, the way Wolverine did for X-men. This movie was probably the best summer blockbuster I have seen so far and will be a hard one to top.

The main attraction to this movie is the action. It is intense. For me, the Star Trek franchise, both on tv and in movies, was a little lacking in the action. I'm not saying the other Star Trek movies and shows were void of any action, I just feel they could of had more. But this movie definitley does not disappoint on the action. It is intense and keeps you on your seat the whole time. The movie also does a fantastic job of blending high powered action with the right spice of humor. This movie is funny. Chris Pine(Kirk) is on the front lines with the humor. His carefree and womanizing attitude makes for a much needed comic relief with the high octane special effects and action. The other characters in the movie all have their little personality quips that add on with the humor Kirk displays.

Being that it is the Enterprise, hardcore fans would have started a riot if not all the original characters from the show were present. Well Abrams gets the entire crew of the Enterprise aboard and matches up the actors perfectly. John Cho(Harold and Kumar) plays Hikaru Sulu, the young helmsman of the Enterprise. Cho was perfect for the part of Sulu and even though he didn't get much screen time he still made the best of what he had. Anton Yelchin(Terminator Salvation) takes the role of navigator Pavel Chekov. Russian-born Yelchin is crafting an impressive acting resume with his recent work in Terminator Salvation and now in Star Trek. Yelchin's character is one of the more lovable characters. A young, innocent 17 year old, Chekov becomes the hero more than once. The famous Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is played by the very funny Simon Pegg(Shaun of the Dead). Aside from Kirk, Scotty was the other big comic relief in the film. delivering most of his lines with that spark of humor and wit he typically shows. But the main characters is where Star Trek really performs. Chris Pine is an excellent Kirk. We remember from the tv show how Kirk was always getting the ladies and Pine is the same way always chasing a new girl. Zachary Quinto, best known as the character Sylar on the hit show Heroes plays the perfect Mr. Spock. Leonard Nimoy made Spock famous with his cold calculations and logic and his emotionless persona. Quinto is almost a spot on Spock with a few different personality traits of himself added in. Zoe Saldana plays Nyota Uhura, the beautiful Communications officer. Saldana does not have a tremendous amount of screen time but the time she does have is performed very well, making her a very good Uhura. But probably one of the best performances comes from Karl Urban, who plays Dr. McCoy. Urban's performance is a perfect representation of the character of McCoy. All the actors portrayed their respective characters flawlessly, perfectly capturing the essence of the original cast. And as an added bonus to all you Trek fans out there, the Leonard Nimoy reprises his role as an older Spock in the film. Confused? Well then your going to have to watch the movie.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the way Abrams captured the essence of the original Star Trek. He accomplished this through superior casting and the use of classic line from the original show like McCoy's classic "Dammit man I'm a doctor not a scientist!" Scotty's "I'm giving it all she's got Captain!" and the ever popular "Energize!" For me, using lines like these that were popular from the show helps draw in the audience and bring in some of what made the original series so loved.

Abrams did a fantastic job with this movie and there is really nothing wrong with it at all. The only problem is that the story may be hard to follow at time, so I wouldn't recommend taking a bathroom break. The great casting, writing, and acting blended with the proper doses of action and comedy make Star Trek a definite must see movie of the summer.

I give Star Trek 10 Pissed of Romulans out of 10.