In the 3rd installment of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Edmund ( Skandar Keynes), and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) are transported back to Narnia, along with their cousin Eustace ( Will Poulter) through a painting in their cousin’s home. The painting has a scene of a ship at sea, and when they appear in Narnia, they come up from out of the water alongside the ship, the Dawn Treader. The captain of the ship is none other than Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), and also on the ship is Lucy’s mouse friend, the fearless warrior, Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg). Caspian tells them that he and his crew are on a mission that could decide the fate of Narnia itself. There is an evil inhabiting an island in the sea and it jeopardizes every living creature in Narnia. To defeat this evil they must travel to mysterious islands to track down the seven lords who were banished when Miraz took over the throne, and retrieve the 7 swords that have to be returned to Aslan’s table in order to bring peace back to Narnia.
On their journey they will all be tested and will have to overcome their greatest temptations, as the evil will try to stop them from reaching their goal. They will also encounter magical creatures and old enemies on their voyage that they will have to overcome, if they are going to accomplish their mission and reunite with their trusted friend, the “Great Lionâ€, Aslan.
I have loved the Narnia stories from the very first one “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobeâ€. This is 3rd chapter in a 7 chapter series, and if you have been following the books, you know that the original 4 kids will not be in the next chapter. Actually there is only two of the four in this one, because as they get to a certain age, they are not able to return back to Narnia’s land. I have to say it was strange at first to not have the older siblings in this movie, as they are only in a cameo dream sequence in certain parts of the movie. The new character added, Eustace, was an obnoxious, troublesome, non believer of Narnia, who took some time to get use to. His character eventually becomes a great added addition to the story, and by the end of the movie, you end up growing to actual like him.
Also if you follow the books, you will already know that the rest of the Narnia adventures will continue with him in them. The storyline in this one is a little bit less dramatic as the previous two, but it’s still a great story and adventure for our young travelers. The visual effects were outstanding, and the action was intense. The storyline between Reepicheep and Eustace was very touching and they ended up being great counterparts for one another. There wasn’t actually an evil being in this one, but more of an evil presence throughout the movie, that manifested itself into challenges that the crew of the Dawn Treader had to overcome. Overall it followed in the footsteps of the first two movies as being very entertaining, and extremely visually stunning. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next. I gave the film 3 swords out of 4. Children will love it, and it also has a biblical undertone that adults should recognize. It’s always a telling of good versus evil, and brings a lot of good values with each adaptation. The movie runs 1 hour and 52mins. It’s rated PG for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action. The screenplay was written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, and Michael Petroni from the Narnia novels from C.S. Lewis. It was directed by Michael Apted. The movie was produced by Gran Via Productions, Walden Media. It was distributed by Fox Walden.
“If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” – The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
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