Die Chroniken von Narnia - Die Reise auf der Morgenröte

Today, I checked out the latest entry of the Chronicles of Narnia film franchise based on the books by C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

In this film, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are currently taking shelter in a home owned by their uncle. But, through the magic of a mysterious painting, they're suddenly brought back into Narnia, and brought aboard the Dawn Treader, the strongest ship of the Narnia armada, but they also bring along their cousin, Eustace. With the help of Caspian, they seek seven legendary swords that can destroy a mysterious new enemy, a deadly green mist.

The film makes good use of its cast, and their performances are fine, and do their best to carry the film. Just like the first two films, Dawn Treader is handsomely produced, boasting impressive production design, costumes, makeup, sound design, and special effects, and some great battle sequences, such as a daring escape from slave traders, and a nail biting final battle with ferocious sea serpents.

But you know what? Those things can't save the film from it's pretty big faults. Most of the magic that seemed to make the first film, and to a lesser extent the second film, so special seems to have been lost through the film's unfocused narrative. This time around the magic feels kind of generic. I also found the editing by Rick Shaine to be inconsistent, as the pace of the film tends to hop infrequently between slow and developmental, to fast and offbeat.

As for David Arnold's score, not only was it a big no no to fire Harry Gregson-Williams, but his score also gets a little derivative at times. I couldn't help but be reminded of Pirates of the Caribbean and Edward Scissorhands at points. There's also a somewhat distracting end credits country tune performed by Carrie Underwood, which by itself is quite lovely, but in the context of the film, feels out of place to the fantasy of Narnia.

It really does seem like the series has gotten worse with each new film. Either the film makers need to get their acts together (And hire a new editor), or they need to hand it to more capable hands.

I give Voyage of the Dawn Treader ** out of ****

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

It has been a few years now and a studio, director, and production team change since we last had a Narnia film but finally the third film in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, has finally come to screen and what can I say? It is well worth your money for you and your entire family to see it. The film is made by 20th Century Fox and Walden Media, directed by Michael Apted, still with actors Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian, Liam Neesan as the voice of Aslan the Lion, Skander Keynes again as Edmund, Georgie Henley as Lucy, with Will Poulter (Son of Rambow) as their cousin Eustace.

The story centers around Edmund and Lucy returning to Narnia this time with their whiny cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian, now King Caspian, onboard the Narnia ship the Dawn Treader. With years of peace enjoyed in Narnia, they are unsure why they are there but soon find themselves on an adventure to battle a mysterious force that threatened Narnia where they face slavers, dragons, temptation, serpents, and learn to become greater than they ever thought they could be. The film follows the plot of the book very well expanding in order to make it flow as a proper story. The additions are perfectly plausible and make the story more cohesive and unlike the changes in Prince Caspian, improve the story. Flowing along quickly, this is by far the shortest in runtime of the series yet also the most powerful and magical, it starts well and ends on a such a high emotional note there are few that will escape unaffected from any screening.

Special effects stand out, with the absence of WETA in the production and special effects I was anxious to see if the new team, actually a fairly large group of small companies, could match what WETA was able to create I am here to tell you YES and in some ways they have surprassed their creations. The dragon and a sea serpent in the film alone are well worth admission, both created with much care and love and really the magic of a fantasy world involved. Other characters from Reepicheep the mouse, a Minotaur, and other creatures are beautiful to behold. The only one that seemed a little down was Aslan who though looking good seems a step down from what WETA created in Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian but the rest is so vivid with color and imagination there is little doubt that it will not just capture the imagination of the young but the entire family and keep them from first shot to last frame.

Music is another powerful entry, the strong Narnia theme running through this film giving it wonder and magic that belongs in this type of film. The strongest song though involves the arrival of a dragon, a piece with great power and a pulse that gives one of the most powerful scenes in the film even greater amazement and magic. Do you want to capture the imagination of a child and your childhood, an escapist film that will be great entertainment for the entire family? THIS IS THAT FILM!

Acting has been hit but this one features better acting and character moments than the other films. With fewer characters than the other two films this one can focus more on the characters and each of the main characters get multiple character building moments that give us greater love and really infuses the film with such emotional power that its hard not to be moved, especially by the climax. Everyone from Edmund to Lucy, to Caspian, to Reepicheep, to Eustace, get powerful scenes that culimate in the strongest ending to a Narnia films and one of the most poignant scenes I have seen in a film in a very long time.

Christians out there, do you fear that the Christian themes are stripped out of this movie? Do not fear, this film is as powerfully religious as it is in magic. All of the religious undertones are not covered but are out in the open for all to see. There is no fear, like what Disney had, when it comes to hitting these themes and the director displays them in all their glory with as much power as C.S. Lewis wrote them to be.

The 3D of the film was fine, it does not detract now does it really add. I believe one would be fine seeing it or not seeing it in 3D, whatever you prefer.

Overall, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a powerful entry in the fantasy genre, a great film for the entire family, and the type of film that belongs in December and should be watched time and time again by young and old alike! I give this film an 8.5/10.

I was SO looking forward to the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and was sorely disappointed.

The film felt like they took the original story, chopped it up, then threw it in a blender with seven magical swords and some ridiculous green mist!

While the film stayed true to main themes of the story, much of the character development and purpose to each of the minor island stories was lost. Unfortunately this meant that most of the magic of the story was lost as well.

I gave the film 6 stars due to the redeeming qualities that were the stunning visuals, some excellent acting (notably by Will Poulter as Eustace), and a beautifully executed final scene.

If you haven't read the book, then you may enjoy this film immensely, but if you are a true Narnia fan, don't go in with very high expectations.

Perhaps the most moralistic of C.S. Lewis' Narnia novels would be 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', which is episodic in style with the Dawn Treader's aimless journey through Narnian seas. Michael Apted takes the helm of direction and brings this adventure to us in 3D; the first for Narnia.

Susan and Peter (King & Queen) have grown up now and reside in America where Narnia has no access. The teenagers Lucy (Georgie Hensley) and Edmund (Skander Keynes) who are in Britain in the midst of WW2, along with their unnerving cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) catch the moving waters in a painting in their room. Soon, the water flows into the room and in a spectacular fashion, they are underwater, only to be pulled up by Prince Caspian in front of the hull of the Dawn Treader. Welcome to Narnia! The trio are briefly introduced to the ship's crew that include the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep and a Narnian buffalo sailor. Their initial inquiry about Narnia's state of affairs and the Dawn Treader's voyage reveal the book and film's weakness - Prince Caspian admits that there are no problems in Narnia. Peace rules the lands and barring the exploration of the farthest stretches of the waters where Aslan's country mythically exists, the ship has little to do on its voyage. Thus, they decide to go island hopping where, just on the first one, they are taken as prisoners and almost sold as slaves until a heroic rescue by the crew saves the day. It is within the walls of the prison that Prince and Edmund find out about the 7 missing lords and their magical swords. Oh and there's a LOST like smoke monster that devours boats full of slaves.

The most striking aspect about 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader' is that it lacks the mystery, build up and joy of discovery of the first movie. At the same time, it eliminates the excessive CGI and Lord of the Rings inspired battle sequences from the second installment and thus proves to be a closer- to- book adaptation. The focus is on retaining Narnia's adventures as an escape for children with funny bits that are memorable especially the endless picking of Eustace by the witty Reepicheep and the monopodial dwarfs on the island. Deeper into the story's entertaining layers, Evil tempts the protagonists in different ways and overcoming the lure is the didactic experience of C.S. Lewis' edition that is well captured by Michael Apted. Lucy's battle against her temptation to be as beautiful as her sister, Edmund's envy of Prince Caspian's position as the leader and Eustace's greed that draws him to hidden treasures are all lessons to be learnt in the battle of good v/s evil. On one hand, the white witch tempts Edmund to join the evil forces while Aslan, in his Christ like rendition guides Lucy on the right path.

The special effects involving the sea serpent in the cove are excellent and provide an ugly yet thrilling experience in 3D while the magical touches through the book of incarnations and entry to Aslan's country are simply enchanting to look at. Discovery of the 7 lords and their swords is itself a moral journey for everyone and while C.S. Lewis did brilliantly in detailing those aspects, Apted is short of time and just like all Narnian films, this one too falls short of the book's magical effect. But then again, Michael Apted is no Peter Jackson.

The climax is a sad farewell to what we were introduced to just 2 movies ago but The Silver Chair may prove to be an altogether different experience with Eustace. Will Poulter's brilliantly convincing portrayal of the annoying kid is the highlight of the film and the focus on him is a well thought out plan for the upcoming movies. Georgie Hensley IS Lucy as C.S. Lewis had once imagined and therefore, her presence is always charming. The rest of the cast could've done better with more focus on their characters had it not been for the time constraint; which, Apted has wisely been strict about. The shortest of the 3 films, yet least action packed, 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' betters its predecessor by being closer to the book with moral implications and child-like adventures. The film is beautiful to look at but it leaves you craving for more fun, more adventure and sometimes, more heroism. It is by no means uplifting and we do miss Aslan in action at the required times. This is Aslan's shortest time on screen and that is a tragedy for the film indeed. Nevertheless, for loyal fans of Narnia, this is purely Narnian in essence but not an epic by motion picture standards.

• 7.033 on a scale of 1-10.

If it weren't for the ending I would've given this movie 4 out of 10. Since I am a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia books, I kind of had to see this one. The other two movies which were made by Disney weren't bad, but weren't the best. Twentieth Century Fox gets a try, and well... they don't do good.

The movie doesn't really make much sense. This really bothered me since I read the books, and I was expecting something along certain lines, but the movie doesn't really follow it. The acting really wasn't all that good which was really distracting, and the dialog wasn't all that better. None of the characters except for possibly Reepacheep, and maybe Eustace when he was a dragon, were likable.

For some reason when reading reviews I keep on reading silly comments about how this movie had good visuals. This confused me greatly, because when you see the green mist for the first time it looks awful. I mean really bad. Actually the green mist looked bad in every scene. Why did it look bad? It's mainly because it wasn't integrated well into the scenes. You could tell the mist was put in badly, so when someone looks at the mist floating overhead it looks like the mist isn't even on the same plane. Since the mist was a big part of the movie, seeing it constantly really ruined it for me. The dragon was cool at some scenes, but in others didn't look too good. Now the serpent was pretty cool, but it seemed a bit cartoony, along with the dragon. That was my biggest issue is that both of the monsters in this movie look cartoony, and really bright. Now the water effects in this movie are real good, especially near the end, and when the serpent is splashing.

Probably the biggest issue in this movie was the camera. Let me tell you I have never seen camera work this bad. The scenes flowed horribly, and the camera angles were all boring. There were no dynamic camera angles, and emotional shots except for maybe one which was near the end. The camera was also really shaky. I was kind of wondering why they didn't try getting a crane, or something for moving shots. But in all of the moving shots it is someone holding the camera, and when the person holding the camera moves the camera starts rocking back and forth. This was unbearable during conversations, or sword fighting sequences.

The scenery was also a bit stale in this movie, especially in the city on the desert island place. It just seems like this movie could have no vegetation which really got old fast. The sets seemed boring, and just ordinary. Only (again) near the end did the sets get a little bit more interesting like on the ancient forest island.

IF there is one thing everyone can agree on, it's that the slave catchers battle was incredibly bad, and put together horribly. None of the people in the battle look like they are taking it seriously, and there is almost no threat. The slave capturers just run around, it doesn't seem really intense. The sword combat is pretty lousy, and their moves seem slow. So bad combat scene+bad camera really makes this scene even worse.

Now the movie didn't really explain the plot really well, so it wasn't until about the last 20 minutes of the movie did it make some sense. Still it seemed like the plot was thrown in. Why not just keep the plot of the original? I guess it wasn't good enough. Either way the movie did get much better in the last 20 minutes as well. The combat improved with a goofy looking serpent, in a well done dark mist realm that was not green mist. Though since the dark realm did have green mist in it, it started forming green figures that looks quite off. The movie does get better at the end when talking with Aslan and the nice water effects.

All in all the movie was a real let-down. This movie has almost no artistic perspective with camera shots, so the movie is overall boring to look at. The effects are good when they need to be, but they are generally bad. I feel like this is evidence that WETA must make all action movies' effects which they already do. The plot was changed, and this left the movie quite confusing. I really feel bad for having to review this movie with a low rating, but trust me, if it weren't for the final last 20 minutes, this would've been a 4/10 and I'm still arguing with myself if I should change it to that.