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When Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings hit big - every studio churned out as many fantasy books-turned-epics they could : The Golden Compass, Bridge To Teribithia and Percy Jackson. All failed... Narnia survived... just. Back for a third adventure (with a new distributor, Disney dropped the franchise after the "poor performance" of Prince Caspian... which "only" made $400M worldwide. Pffft!) Voyage of the Dawn Treader returns to the magic and wonder of C.S. Lewis' beloved world - via the fantastic Narnian ship, the Dawn Treader.
In
this new installment, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie (along with their cousin
Eustace, replacing the absent elder brother and sister from the first
two films) their royal friend King Caspian (Ben Barnes - aka, the
poor man's Robert Pattinson), and a warrior mouse named Reepicheep
(Simon Pegg, replacing Eddie Izzard) find themselves swallowed into a
painting and on to the Dawn Treader. Their mission - which,
as usual, has the fate of Narnia resting on it's shoulders - takes the
courageous voyagers to mysterious islands and a river that turns to
gold, to fateful confrontations with magical creatures and sinister
enemies.
There is also a reunion with their friend and
protector, the "Great Lion" Aslan (as well as a slew of cameos from
Aussie actors in the form of Garry Sweet and "Bob Trimbole from Underbelly" to name but a few).
Plenty has been made of the heavy religious overtones of the Narnia
stories - and while that fact will skip over the heads of the kids
watching, the adults in the audience should prepare themselves for a
good old fashioned Lion led sermon. Unlike Harry Potter, which has managed to reinvent itself and excel with each and every outing, Voyage of the Dawn Treader very much feels like "More of the Same". Admittedly,
"Going through the Motions" isn't always a bad thing in a fantastical
world full of adventure and lovable creatures - but there just isn't
enough pep or personality in any of the dated English Toffs that we
need to embrace as our heroes for this to ever really deliver more than
"Mildly forgettable".
I don't doubt there is still a bundle of
cash to squeeze out of the franchise - but you get the feeling that
Disney got out while the going was good... because as it stands Narnia is not so much a Voyage of a Dawn Treader as it is a Voyage into slumber. DVD Special Features
Deleted Scenes, Commentary By Director Michael Apted
and Producer Mark Johnson and a bunch of featurettes including Dawn
Treader, Magician's Island, Ramandu's Island, Lone Islands, The Dark
Island, Goldwater Island.
It good fun, but again, is it really going to compete for the youngsters attention? Conclusion:
Movie 60% Extras: 60%
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