Third “Narnia” Best So Far, but Draws Smaller Crowds

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

The number one movie last weekend may have been “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” but this third installment in the series of adaptations from the beloved C. S. Lewis novels still grossed less than half of either of its two predecessors. That’s a shame, because this film, directed by veteran Michael Apted, is better than both of them put together.

The first Narnia film, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” wasn’t really bad, but was about a half-hour too long, spending far too much time showing off its digital special effects before moving on to the next plot element. The second film, “Prince Caspian,” was a bit better, but for the most part still rather sluggish in its pacing. The third time around, there are more digital effects and more spectacular computer imagery (in 3-D, no less), but all are in service of the story, rather than the other way around. The financing studio also switched from Disney, who never seemed quite sure how to handle the first two films, to 20th Century Fox.

Apted’s direction keeps the film moving right along, so fast, at times, that the often striking 3-D presentation actually distracts from the action, making it easy to miss things while concentrating on the nicely-rendered three-dimensional compositions. It’s probably advisable to watch “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” for the first time in 2-D, in order to get the full impact of the story, and later see it a second time in 3-D to enjoy the vivid stereoscopic images.

The first two films followed the adventures of the four Pevensie children, who discover the mystical world of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe, and later returned to save the kingdom from a threat. The strongest actors of the group were the two youngest children, played by Georgie Henly (as Lucy) and Skandar Keynes (as Edward). In the third film, set a few years later, the older two (Anna Popplewell’s Susan and William Moseley’s Peter) make only cameo appearances.

Lucy and Edmund are the main focus, along with their annoying cousin Eustace (played with great relish by Will Poulter), possibly another reason “Voyage” is more engrossing than either “Wardrobe” or “Caspian.”

In this story, Lucy and Edward live out the end of World War II with their cousin, while Susan and Peter are away living in America. A painting of a ship at sea suddenly comes to life and leaks out its water into the bedroom, drawing Lucy, Edward, and the reluctant Eustace into the ocean of Narnia, quickly rescued by Prince Caspian and brought up to speed about what’s happening in the kingdom.

In the process of some mysterious adventures, they learn that dark forces are affecting the kingdom and slave traders are capturing citizens both for profit and to offer in sacrifice to an ominous green mist that swallows them up without a trace. Our heroes must recover seven magical swords to place on the table of Aslan before things can be set aright.

“Narnia 3: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a rollicking adventure-fantasy, an engrossing supernatural quest story with plenty of action. At the same time it’s a very good adolescent coming-of-age story dealing with the insecurities of younger siblings trying to find their identities in the shadows of admired older ones, and an insecure self-centered boy learning the benefits of co-operation and self-confidence.

And beyond that, of course, it is C. S. Lewis’ effective allegory of Christian philosophy and right-living, but the sermonizing comes across as far less heavy-handed and more integral to the plot than in the first two films. It’s a film aimed not just at kids, but at audiences of all ages.

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