Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Michael Apted
Stars: Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, Tilda Swinton, Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Terry Norris.
This third and possibly final installment in the cinematic adaptation of C S Lewis’ fantasy series about Narnia is disappointing. This film is fairly weak and dull, and fails to live up to the expectations established by the superb The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.
This time around it is the two younger and less charismatic Pevensie children Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) who are drawn back into the fictional kingdom of Narnia. Reluctantly drawn along on the journey is their spoiled and continually whining cousin Eustace (Will Poulter). They end up on the Dawn Treader, the most famous boat in the entire kingdom. King Caspian (Ben Barnes, reprising his role from the previous film) is on a dangerous journey to try and recover the lost swords of seven Lords of Narnia.
The adventure this time around lacks the urgency of the past two films when no less than the future of the kingdom of Narnia itself was at stake. For the most part, the pacing is fairly plodding, although things come alive towards the end when the crew do battle with a fearsome sea creature.
Since the last film there have been a few changes behind the scenes of the Narnia universe. Former producers Disney have dropped out, leaving 20th Century Fox to take up the mantle. Regular director Andrew Adamson has vacated the director’s chair here, but remains as one of the executive producers.
Directing the film is noted British director Michael Apted (the 7 Up series, Coal Miner’s Daughter, Gorillas In The Mist), whose ability to handle large scale visual effects and green screen technology is less assured. Apted’s direction is surprisingly lacklustre. The convoluted plot also seems episodic rather than a flowing narrative. C S Lewis’s novels contained overtly Christian allegories, but the usual religious metaphors and symbolism are a little heavy handed this time around.
As a distraction from its obvious failings, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader has been retrofitted for 3D in the post production stages. Like other films that have undergone a similar process (the recent Clash Of The Titans, etc), the visuals are quite murky and the visual effects themselves unimpressive.
This time around the contributions of regulars Liam Neeson and Tilda Swinton are brief -Neeson appears briefly as the proud lion Aslan, while Swinton’s wicked white witch appears only in spectral form. The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was largely filmed on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and a number of Australian actors appear in the film, including Gary Sweet, who plays Lord Drinian, the captain of the Dawn Treader, and veterans Terry Norris and Bruce Spence.
If The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader proves to be the final film in the Chronicles Of Narnia saga, it is a disappointing note on which to finish.
★★☆
