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‘The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’
(From left) Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley,
Skandar Keynes, Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg) and Will Poulter
by Tim Ross
movies@mooresvilleweekly.com
When you’re an epic fantasy film series
growing up in the age of The Lord of
the Rings and Harry Potter, you’d better
bring your A game. Such is the case with
the latest installment of “The Chronicles
of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader.”
It’s the most sophisticated Narnia
offering to date, as the series seems set to
regain the momentum it lost after “Prince
Caspian.” In fact, the cost of “Prince Caspian”
– and its lagging sales – prompted
Disney to back out of committing to
produce or finance any additional films
in the series. 20th Century Fox stepped
in to produce “The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader,” and they just may reap the benefits.
Still, the Narnia series has labored in
the shadows of the franchise megahits
of Potter and Rings. Witness the current
$244 million-and-counting haul of part
one of the final Harry Potter film and
Page 34 • Mooresville Weekly • Dec. 10-16, 2010
the buzz surrounding the finally greenlit
return to Middle Earth as the Hobbit
films get under way.
Make no mistake, Narnia is big. The
seven-book Christian allegory by C.S.
Lewis has sold 100 million copies in the
last 50 years. It’s an enduring classic, but
the early films never quite stepped out
of the huge shadow of their hefty contemporaries.
The first installment, “The
Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe,” made
$250 million in theaters while the follow
up, “Prince Caspian,” managed to recoup
only half its budget.
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
could revive the series and make the
telling of all seven books a Hollywood
Grade: HHH out of 4
MPAA Rating: PG for some frightening
images and sequences of fantasy action
Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes,
Ben Barnes, Will Poulter
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Studio: 20th Century Fox
possibility. This Narnia is a fast-paced
adventure with fantastic effects and tight
acting that will satisfy fantasy lovers and
C.S. Lewis fans alike.
A new crew has been assembled,
including director Michael Apted with a
new writing team, and they have chosen
to do more with less. It works. Our heroes
are reduced from four Pevensies to two,
Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund
(Skandar Keynes). Peter and Susan have
outgrown their need to believe in Narnia
or the help that they can lend there.
The siblings, however, are accidentally
accompanied by their insufferable cousin,
Eustable Scrubb, a suitably scowling Will
Poulter. And Ben Barnes is back as Prince
Caspian but he has lost the unidentifiable
accent he used in the prior film – a welcome
loss.
Perhaps most importantly, Apted helms
a clearer story, one that focuses more on
the characters and how they’re affected by
the journey. The adventurers are largely
confined to the Narnian ship, the Dawn
Treader, and the islands they visit, so the
story focuses inward, examining their
fears, hopes and how belief in that which
they cannot see can guide them.
The writing still fails to capture the taut,
intelligent storytelling of the Lord of the
Rings or the Harry Potter series, but they
do succeed in telling a story that moves at
a brisk pace while being crystal clear with
Lewis’ original allegorical points. Narnia
is a place that exists both in another world
and in the hearts of believers. If one can
believe in Aslan there, one can believe in
God here.
Georgie Henley delivers a capable performance
as Lucy, even though she’s lost
some of the little girl charm that came so
readily to her in the first two films. She has
aged into a young woman, and she carries
it well. So, too, has Skandar Keynes, as
Edmund, matured as an actor. Both have
grown up in the series, and both displayed
a comfort that served the story well.
Ben Barnes was a pleasant surprise.
The young actor looked lost in “Prince
Caspian,” overwhelmed by the burden
to carry the story and not aided by the
writing or direction. Here, he is more in
command of his ship, his faculties and
his character’s arc. Also new is the voice
of the beloved swash-buckling mouse
Reepicheep, with Simon Pegg delivering
wry jokes and earnestness as the noble
rodent.
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is
an enjoyable experience and, while the
Christian themes are, by far, the most
pronounced in this latest installment
of Narnia, it does not sink the Dawn
Treader in dogma. It remains to be seen
if The Chronicles of Narnia will now sail
into the sunset or be back with another
installment of the C.S. Lewis classics. q
OPenI n G
FrIdAy, deC. 10
The chrOnicles Of narnia:
The vOyaGe Of
The dawn Treader (PG)
The TOurisT (PG-13)
BOx OFFICe
WeeKend TOTAL
1. TanGled (PG)
$21.6M
On videO dec. 14
The A-TeAm (PG-13)
CyRus (R)
DesPiCAble me (PG)
exiT ThRouGh The GifT shoP (R)
JoAn RiveRs: A PieCe of WoRk (R)
leGenD of The GuARDiAns:
The oWls of GA’hoole (PG)
miCmACs (R)
moTheR AnD ChilD (R)
nAnny mCPhee ReTuRns (PG)
The oTheR Guys (PG-13)
The ToWn (R)
$96.6M
2. harry POTTer and The deaThly
hallOws – ParT 1 (PG-13)
$17M $244.5M
3. Burlesque (PG-13)
$6.1M $27M
4. unsTOPPaBle (PG-13)
$6M $68.8M
5. lOve and OTher druGs (r)
$5.7M $22.6M
6. MeGaMind (PG)
$4.9M
7. due daTe (r)
$4.1M
8. fasTer (r)
$3.9M
$136.6M
$90.9M
$18.2M
9. The warriOr’s way (r)
$3M $3M
10. The nexT Three days (PG-13)
$2.6M $18.3M
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