Film Review: THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (2010)

Director: Michael Apted
Writer (Novel): C.S. Lewis
Writers (Screenplay): Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely & Michael Petroni
Running time: 108 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy/Family
UK Release date: 9^th December 2010

Watched at the cinema Saturday 24^th December 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Having seen all of the ‘Narnia films so far I thought it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to see the third offering when it came up on TV recently. Although maybe not as strong as the previous two, I still enjoyed this one. I did suffer (I thought) from its certification though… all of the fight scenes are toned down quite a bit. Having said that, it’s still very well made with a pretty strong storyline to back it up. More of my thoughts after this brief summary.

Having been drawn back to Narnia, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are joined this time by their cousin Eustace Scrubb. He is peevish, annoying and altogether a bit obnoxious, to say the least! They land at sea and are dragged from it by Prince (now King) Caspian and the crew of the Dawn Treader. The ship is on a mission to find the seven noble men, allies of Caspian’s father, who escaped to the Lost Isles. When they arrive, after a bit of a hiccup involving some slavers, they discover that six of them had set sail to find the source of an evil that has plagued the isles. Many citizens had been sacrificed to a mysterious fog that makes them disappear. The ship sets sail on an adventure that will test all of them to their limits. I really don’t want to say any more or the Spoiler police will have me keel-hauled (again).

Very well made with some excellent CGI, this film is great to look at and it really should have achieved more praise for that (IMO). As far as performances go, well I have to agree with the critics, the stand-out performance came from the young Will Poulter as Eustace Clarence Scrubb. He fully deserved the nominations and praise he’s received for this performance. The others involved also did a good job, so honourable mentions must go to; Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie, Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, Ben Barnes as Caspian, Gary Sweet as Drinian and the voice talents of; Simon Pegg as Reepicheep and Liam Neeson as Aslan.

Now, I have to admit that, of the Narnia stories, I have only ever read ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ when I was young. This means that I can only judge each subsequent film adaptation on the film alone. I’m pleased to say that I quite enjoyed this one, with a few misgivings. The highlight being the relationship between the characters of Eustace and Reepicheep, that really stole the dhow (for me). Over all, although not quite as good as the first two, I did find it very entertaining and I’d deem it worth a look… Recommended.

My score: 7.2/10.

IMDb Score: 6.4/10 (based on 29,950 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0980970/

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 49/100 (based on 155 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 63/100 (based on 144,284 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_the_voyage_of_the_dawn_treader/

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FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Intake Officer: Are you sure you're eighteen?
Edmund Pevensie: Why? Do I look older?

Edmund Pevensie: Lucy, have you seen this ship before?
Lucy Pevensie: It's very Narnian looking, isn't it?

Reepicheep: Unhand the tail. Aslan the Great gave me this tail and no one, repeat, no one, touches the tail. Period, exclamation mark!

[last lines]
Eustace Clarence Scrubb: We spoken often of Narnia in the days that followed. When my cousins left after the war ended, I missed them with all my heart, as I know all Narnians will miss them 'til the end of time.

LINKS:
Official Site: http://www.narnia.com/games/
Trailer: