Voyage of the Dawn Treader : The Chronicles of Narnia

Review by Sean Lynch

The Chronicles of Narnia have always been the dorky cousin to the Harry Potter franchise : Slower, take themselves way to serious and are nowhere near as cool.

Yet no matter how dusty or dry it's three film franchise has been, Narnia has to be commended on having survived "The Great Hollywood Fantasy Book Pillaging" of the mid 2000s.

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.

3 out of 5

Voyage of the Dawn Treader : The Chronicles of Narnia
Australian release: 2nd December, 2010
Official Site: Voyage Dawn Treader : The Chronicles of Narnia
Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes
Director: Michael Apted