The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

It would be fair to say that in 2005, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was one of the most memorable films (it's currently the 35th highest grossing film of all time). However, after the first installment in what is now a trilogy, the "Narnia" films seemed to lose their power. Though "Prince Caspian" (the 2nd in the franchise released in 2008) was somewhat well received, it did not gain the popularity that its predecessor had and to add to that it was a terrible adaption from the book. Things didn't look good for Aslan and his magical creatures when Disney decided to drop the series due to economic problems but Walden Media pressed on and has produced a third film. Has the franchise redeemed itself or is Narnia continuing to digress into a lost cause? To be honest, after I left the theater I wasn't quite sure.

The two youngest children of the Pevensie family, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are staying with their selfish and quite annoying cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). Very quickly, the three children look to a painting of a ship in the ocean on the wall. Lucy remarks that the ship reminds her of a ship from Narnia which Eustace calls a stupid fantasy world that only exists in their heads. When Edmund and Eustace get in an argument, the painting starts to release water into the room until the room overflows. When the three emerge to the surface, they are back in Narnia and are rescued by King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and his crew on his ship, The Dawn Treader. Three years have passed in Narnia since Caspian overthrew his evil uncle in the second film and since then Caspian has brought peace to Narnia. Now the King is sailing to find the seven lords that served his father before his uncle took over.

However, the quest soon takes a more perilous turn when Caspian and the children discover a green mist that captures Narnians and take them to a place called Dark Island. To destroy this island, the seven swords of the lords Caspian is looking for must be laid at Aslan's table. During their journey the four must learn to overcome their inner struggles and resist the temptation that the mist presents to them or else they too will become corrupted with the evil.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, I wasn't sure what to think of "Dawn Treader" at first. My first impression was one of disappointment from the expectations that I had. The first two "Narnia" films (especially the 2nd one) contain good amounts of entertaining action and climactic battle sequences. This above all else is what I was looking forward to in this movie. Unfortunately for me, there was nothing like this in "Dawn Treader." While there are several entertaining, visually stunning fight scenes, there is nothing compared to the epic climax found in the first film so I was a little bummed out.

Now my second impression of the film, after I disregarded my expectations, was a good one as I realized that "Dawn Treader" accomplishes what its predecessor "Prince Caspian" could not--it contains a good, well though out story and that seems to be the film's main focus. Personally, not much could make me happier when watching a sequel. One of my biggest requirements for a good sequel is for it to maintain a strong focus on the plot and not to just skip to tons of action which many sequels fail to do. And considering that this is actually the third film in the series, I am especially impressed that the film focuses on the story more than the action.

Now even though the film had a good story that doesn't mean it was successful in completely drawing me in. Something that I have began to notice with third, fourth, etc. installments in a movie franchise is that the film needs to do something to draw me back into the series. I already know the characters, I already know the setting, and if the film can't bring anything new to the table, I will be bored. Thus, the problem with "Dawn Treader."

When I first heard that Walden Media would try to make a third Narnia, I was both surprised and skeptical thinking that there was little chance that the series could make a comeback. Sadly, without the epic battles that the first two included, I'm not sure the series can survive. I doubt that a strong story, not to mention a sub-par script and mediocre acting can keep movie goers coming to the theater. Was "Dawn Treader" a bad movie? No, but it doesn't make me desire more sequels. I give it two stars out of four.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has a running time of 115 minutes and is rated PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action.