Le Monde de Narnia : L'Odyssée du Passeur d'Aurore

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.

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.

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 ****

I have watched this film in 3d at a preview screening in London.

First of all, I do not recommend anyone watching this in 3d. It is too dark and the action is just a motion blur. It's dreadful.

As for the film, there is much to enjoy with excellent visual effects, action set pieces (though ruined for me by the 3D) and a couple of stand out characters. But unfortunately there is also much to cringe at in some bouts of terrible dialogue.

The characters of Reepicheep (the kick-ass warrior mouse) and Eustace, (the obnoxious brat cousin) were the most fun with the actor playing Eustace demonstrating excellent comic timing. The relationship between them was funny and touching. And they even brought much needed zest to the action.

But alarmingly, Edmund and Lucy seem to have deteriorated as actors. Some of their emotions are too forced which is a pity. Not sure why, as I would expect them to improve with each film as did the young cast of the Harry Potter movies.

Overall, the story has surprisingly been well adapted considering not a great deal actually happens in the book. But the pacing is good, even though a little episodic. There are much more Christian analogies once again which would please many and irritate others. But I rather like all of the analogies.

I do feel however, that amongst adults, mostly those who enjoyed the Narnia books will enjoy this more than non readers of the books because the story is too bizarre even for a fantasy! But I think most children will enjoy this immensely, regardless if they read the books or not.

With better written dialogue and better handling of the child performances (namely Lucy and Edmund), this could have been a much better film but as its stands its an enjoyable enough entry in this series.

Oh and I will say it again, do not watch this in 3d.

The third installment in the big budget Narnian films gives us a more or less solid film with impressive special effects wasted on a hackneyed script and mediocre acting. There are a couple of exceptions in the acting department. The boy playing Eustace hits his mark and the voice work for Reepicheep is handled well. The special effects are dazzling; merging reality with digital almost seamlessly. But my critique of this film is exactly the same as the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe film (I never saw Prince Caspian): The atmosphere is all wrong.

Lighthearted whimsy is exchanged for somberness. A slow paced voyage is traded for a rapid fire adventure that moves so fast, we cannot enjoy the characters nor the moment. This isn't fantasy, it is a special effects reel. Added negatives include the actors, none of whom (Reepicheep excepted) capture any semblance of the royalty they attempt to portray. The actor playing Caspian is especially dimwitted in playing a king. He seems more like a befuddled commoner who learned a few royal gestures at school somewhere. At no time do you feel nor do his men feel like they are in the presence of a great king (which was the case in the book). The movie takes great liberties with the plot of the book, opting instead for a silly new plot about an evil mist which sucks away slaves in boats. This brings about a couple of new side characters (a father and daughter), neither of whom make much of an impression.

What this movie series need is to RECAPTURE THE MOOD OF THE BOOKS and avoid throwing out the plot for a newer one. They can keep the special effects, but temper them with a story that takes its time and is as entranced with its surroundings as the passengers aboard the Dawn Treader were. Are the producers afraid to elevate the material up to the audience, instead of pandering down to short attention spans? It sure seems so. While taken on its own terms the movie is professionally handled, I guarantee the movie would have stuck in the minds of the audience more if greater pains were taken on a good script and good acting. As it is, you watch the film, leave, and then don't remember much afterward.