The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Year: 2010
Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Liam Neeson & Will Poulter
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/11/20
Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Liam Neeson & Will Poulter
Runtime: 113 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/11/20
If you’ve been following my reviews for the Narnia films, and I recommend you do before you go any further with this review, you’ll know that I’m trying to work out why the series didn’t take off in the same way that other fantasy novel adaptations were in the 00’s. With the success of The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, why didn’t Narnia attain the same kind of prestige…or even get to adapt all of the books, which are among some of the most highly regarded in children’s literature.
Despite having a weak third act and some underwhelming performances from the child actors, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a decent start to the series and given it could work out the teething problems set the series up to be quite promising. Prince Caspian rectified some of the issues present in the first film, but due to its over-reliance on needlessly long battle sequences it couldn’t quite capture the same magic of the first film. The saying goes that third time’s the charm, but I regret to inform you that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is anything but charming.
I’m going to be brutally honest here, I had forgotten what the story of Dawn Treader was about whilst I was watching the film, that’s how forgettable the whole thing was. So I’ve looked up a synopsis of the story for this review and trusting that it’s right.
Three years after the events of Prince Caspian, Lucy & Edmund Pevensie (Georgie Henley & Skandar Keynes) are staying with their cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter) whilst Peter & Susan are in America with their parents to aid with the war effort. When a painting in Eustace’s house comes to life the three of them are sucked in and are brought aboard the approaching ship, the eponymous Dawn Treader. Aboard the ship is their old friend Prince Caspian who invites the three children to help him search for seven lords who have been banished from Narnia by Caspian’s uncle Miraz. The crew soon learn that the lords are being used as sacrifices to a mysterious green mist and must rescue the remaining lords before they all succumb to whatever lies beneath the misty waters.
The story is underwhelming to say the least. It does little to build on any established Narnian lore and instead just keeps throwing new things at you without any explanation as to what’s actually happening. It feels like the film keeps changing course with every major plot development and as a result it’s easy to get lost because you have nothing tangible to help you navigate the films fast paced narrative.
Despite having a weak third act and some underwhelming performances from the child actors, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a decent start to the series and given it could work out the teething problems set the series up to be quite promising. Prince Caspian rectified some of the issues present in the first film, but due to its over-reliance on needlessly long battle sequences it couldn’t quite capture the same magic of the first film. The saying goes that third time’s the charm, but I regret to inform you that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is anything but charming.
I’m going to be brutally honest here, I had forgotten what the story of Dawn Treader was about whilst I was watching the film, that’s how forgettable the whole thing was. So I’ve looked up a synopsis of the story for this review and trusting that it’s right.
Three years after the events of Prince Caspian, Lucy & Edmund Pevensie (Georgie Henley & Skandar Keynes) are staying with their cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter) whilst Peter & Susan are in America with their parents to aid with the war effort. When a painting in Eustace’s house comes to life the three of them are sucked in and are brought aboard the approaching ship, the eponymous Dawn Treader. Aboard the ship is their old friend Prince Caspian who invites the three children to help him search for seven lords who have been banished from Narnia by Caspian’s uncle Miraz. The crew soon learn that the lords are being used as sacrifices to a mysterious green mist and must rescue the remaining lords before they all succumb to whatever lies beneath the misty waters.
The story is underwhelming to say the least. It does little to build on any established Narnian lore and instead just keeps throwing new things at you without any explanation as to what’s actually happening. It feels like the film keeps changing course with every major plot development and as a result it’s easy to get lost because you have nothing tangible to help you navigate the films fast paced narrative.
The performances are generally good this time around though. The only thing holding them back last time round was William Moseley as Peter Pevensie and thankfully he’s relegated to just a cameo role in this film. Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley have come a long way from their first outings as the characters and have become more and more competent as the films have gone on, this combined with Ben Barnes returning as Caspian, the standout performer of the previous film and it’s safe to say that Dawn Treader has the best performances in any Narnia film. The show stealer this time round is Will Poulter as the whiny nuisance Eustace Scrubb. Whilst Scrubb is a character that will certainly rub you the wrong way and is annoying beyond belief, it’s the good kind of annoying because Poulter’s performance often highlights just how outrageous the character is. Some of the best parts of the film are when he is writing in his diary, hearing events from his point of view is genuinely funny and Poulter has some excellent comic timing. It is easy to see why he went from strength to strength over the course of this decade.
The other thing that throws me about Dawn Treader is how it looks. After doing a bit of research I’ve discovered that the reason it doesn’t sit right with me on a visual level is because the film was shot entirely on digital, and then in post-production had all the special effects designed for 3D viewing. It makes sense considering the film came out right as 3D had its big boom following Avatar and every major blockbuster was releasing with 3D versions regardless of how necessary it was. But the film hadn’t been show with 3D in mind, so the special effects feel completely detached from everything else and laughably fake at times. Add to this the film’s extremely bright, and often oversaturated colour palette, plus some odd editing choices and the whole thing looks like it’s actually a made for TV film rather than a big budget blockbuster. It looks and feels cheap, which combined with the lacklustre story only weakens the experience even further.
The other thing that throws me about Dawn Treader is how it looks. After doing a bit of research I’ve discovered that the reason it doesn’t sit right with me on a visual level is because the film was shot entirely on digital, and then in post-production had all the special effects designed for 3D viewing. It makes sense considering the film came out right as 3D had its big boom following Avatar and every major blockbuster was releasing with 3D versions regardless of how necessary it was. But the film hadn’t been show with 3D in mind, so the special effects feel completely detached from everything else and laughably fake at times. Add to this the film’s extremely bright, and often oversaturated colour palette, plus some odd editing choices and the whole thing looks like it’s actually a made for TV film rather than a big budget blockbuster. It looks and feels cheap, which combined with the lacklustre story only weakens the experience even further.
With all this it’s easy to see why the Narnia films never carried on, despite there being four more books to adapt. Though the films were never unsuccessful at the box office, Prince Caspian & Dawn Treader did not meet financial expectations for the kinds of films they were. This mixed with Disney backing out of Dawn Treader and it being picked up by Fox, plus the license with C.S. Lewis’ estate expiring following Dawn Treader’s release, there seemed little reason for the license to be renewed and Fox to continue the series. The underwhelming performance I would put down to three major factors.
Firstly, the films were all far too long in comparison to the source material they were adapting. Each Narnia book is less than 200 pages whereas Dawn Treader is the shortest film coming in at just shy of two hours, and Prince Caspian being an eye watering two hours and forty-five minutes.
Secondly, the sequel films lacked the worldbuilding that made the first film so enjoyable. When compared to similar films like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, those films meaningfully build on the worlds they have created in each sequel, using information that has previously been communicated as steppingstones to new information. Narnia does not. In the case of Caspian it simply eschews all world or character building for battle scenes, and Dawn Treader throws so much new info at you with no real context to tie it all together that none of it lands with the viewer.
Then thirdly and finally, perhaps most importantly, it comes down to the core actors. Now whilst the Pevensie children certainly improved over the years their performances were never good enough to make the characters feel real or make the audience invest in their plight. Like their characters in the books, the actors just feel like they’re along for the ride and that just doesn’t put bums in seats. I know I’ve criticised the acting capabilities of the Harry potter child actors before, but they all felt like they belonged at least. No matter how wooden they were, or how stilted the dialogue was, they felt like they were the right casting choice and nobody else would be right for that role. The Pevensie’s never gave me that feeling and I personally feel like that’s the biggest reason why these films weren’t as successful as other adaptations of the time.
I’d quite like to see the Narnia books adapted again because they are great stories that have a lot of potential. Plus with the success of Game of Thrones there has been a resurgence in fantasy appreciation, and a better understanding of how to successfully translate fantasy literature to the screen. Perhaps with Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series on the horizon there may be rumblings from a rival service to get Narnia back on our screens once more.
Firstly, the films were all far too long in comparison to the source material they were adapting. Each Narnia book is less than 200 pages whereas Dawn Treader is the shortest film coming in at just shy of two hours, and Prince Caspian being an eye watering two hours and forty-five minutes.
Secondly, the sequel films lacked the worldbuilding that made the first film so enjoyable. When compared to similar films like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, those films meaningfully build on the worlds they have created in each sequel, using information that has previously been communicated as steppingstones to new information. Narnia does not. In the case of Caspian it simply eschews all world or character building for battle scenes, and Dawn Treader throws so much new info at you with no real context to tie it all together that none of it lands with the viewer.
Then thirdly and finally, perhaps most importantly, it comes down to the core actors. Now whilst the Pevensie children certainly improved over the years their performances were never good enough to make the characters feel real or make the audience invest in their plight. Like their characters in the books, the actors just feel like they’re along for the ride and that just doesn’t put bums in seats. I know I’ve criticised the acting capabilities of the Harry potter child actors before, but they all felt like they belonged at least. No matter how wooden they were, or how stilted the dialogue was, they felt like they were the right casting choice and nobody else would be right for that role. The Pevensie’s never gave me that feeling and I personally feel like that’s the biggest reason why these films weren’t as successful as other adaptations of the time.
I’d quite like to see the Narnia books adapted again because they are great stories that have a lot of potential. Plus with the success of Game of Thrones there has been a resurgence in fantasy appreciation, and a better understanding of how to successfully translate fantasy literature to the screen. Perhaps with Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series on the horizon there may be rumblings from a rival service to get Narnia back on our screens once more.