The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

7/21/2013

In the immortal words of Col. Kurtz, "The horror...the horror." Marlon Brando wasn't speaking of this film, of course, but rather the horrors of the Vietnam War. The sentiment remains applicable. When I write reviews, I do try to give at least a modicum of context, be it a history of the film itself, predecessors to its place in cinema history, or my general feelings on the type of film. In this case, I've just referenced Francis Ford Coppola's classic take on Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," Apocalypse Now. What does that have to do with Dawn Treader? Nothing, and I couldn't be happier. Why? Because it's distracted my mind with thoughts of a far, far better film. Allow me my few moments of happiness before I have to rifle through the dark filing cabinet of my mind to marshal my tho

4/12/2016

Growing up in the Canada in the 70's and 80's, I fondly recall vastly enjoying an animated version of Lewis' 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' that was presented by Kraft on CTV. Now as a father of a son, I want to see with him the contemporary versions of the books I adored in my youth, though at present I greatly prefer the craftsmanship of cinema pre-1970. It never bothers me in the slightest, to the ire of my more obsessive-compulsive cinephilic friends, seeing films of series with complete disregard to their order (one of my friends nearly had a heart attack, when he discovered I had watched 'Spider-Man 3' without having previously watched films 1 and 2--don't even get me started about the 'Harry Potter' series...), so, especially curious about how one of my favourite contempo

11/4/2020

I wouldn't class this as a good or bad film, it's in a weird sorta in-between to me. <em>'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'</em> is, comparatively, bad. It loses the vibe and all the intrigue that the first film has, as it continues the downward trajectory set by the other sequel. However, it's still just about got a decent adventure feel to it. Only two of the youngsters reprise their roles 'properly', those being Georgie Henley (Lucy) and Skandar Keynes (Edmund). I'd always prefer a cast to remain the same, but if I'm honest this doesn't miss William Moseley (Peter) and Anna Popplewell (Susan) all that much. That argument is helped by the arrival of a young Will Poulter as Eustace. He's great. Plot-wise is where it gets meh. I didn't care for it, even if

7/20/2024

Whilst this third in the adaptations of CS Lewis' "Narnia" stories is still enjoyable to watch; it's fair to say that it bears little resemblance to the original book and that is a shame. We only have two "Pevensie" children ("Lucy" & "Edmund") summoned back in this film alongside, accidentally, their cowardly but loudmouthed cousin "Eustace" (Will Poulter). They arrive just in time to be rescued from the middle of the sea by a passing King "Caspian" (Ben Barnes) on his ship "The Dawn Treader" and wonder why they have been recalled. We soon find out that they must all get to the "Lone Islands" before a green mist envelops the whole kingdom. We've plenty of action, battles, some mysterious invisible dwarves and even a wee bit of excess testosterone en route to quite an exciting conclusion.

7/2/2026

Nostalgia has a funny way of tricking us when we revisit things we loved when we were younger. Sitting down to watch the third chapter of the Narnia saga brought up this inevitable conflict for me: the fondness I have for that universe clashing with the totally real frustration over some questionable narrative choices. This voyage ends up showing not just what happens to the Pevensie siblings, but the structural limits of a franchise that fought hard not to lose its identity under commercial pressure. Watching the ship’s purple sails catch the wind, it’s clear that the magic we were promised swings between flashes of pure beauty and stumbles that are hard to ignore. I noticed the main cast’s performances were really up and down throughout the trip, making things feel pretty disconnected