Caspian, played by Ben Barnes, is searching for the seven lords his uncle sent out over the ocean. When they find the first lord, he gives them a magic sword. They soon discover that they must find the remaining swords and place them on Aslan's table in order to defeat the evil spreading over the islands.
They will be tempted in many ways. Can they overcome these temptations and find all the swords to dispel the mist?
From all the reviews I've read, it seems producer Andrew Adamson, and executive producers Douglas Gresham and Perry Moore opted to make The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the biggest departure from C.S. Lewis's classic children's books. The reviews, like those for the other two movies, are varied and conflicting. People who haven't read the books (like me) enjoy the beautiful settings, epic adventure, and special effects this movie provides. Lovers of Lewis's books, however, decry the departure from the books' storylines and the stripping away of the more Christian elements.
Our family saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the movie theater not long after it came out. In 3D, it is a spectacular addition to the series. While Peter (William Moseley) and Susan Pevensie (Anna Popplewell) only appear in cameos during one of Lucy's dreams, fans of the movies are treated to seeing Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Caspian (Barnes) again. Liam Neeson and Simon Pegg also return to offer their voices to Aslan and Reepicheep respectively.
I was disappointed that Peter and Susan's departure to America is never explained in the movie. We don't know why the Pevensie children were separated; though we know by the end of the second movie the older two will not be returning to Narnia. Also interesting, and a bit lazy, is that like Peter in Prince Caspian, Edmund is finding it hard to be an average kid in England after being a king in Narnia. Lucy reminds him he's not a king in England, just as Susan reminded Peter they would need to get used to the fact that they may never return to Narnia at the beginning of Prince Caspian.
Will Poulter's Eustace Scrubb is an annoying little brat--a character you love to hate. Poulter did a fine job of creating Eustace to be so unlikable in the beginning that you wish Reepicheep had thrown him back into the water instead of keeping him on the Dawn Treader.
Each character is tested while on the journey. Lucy desires to be beautiful like her older sister Susan. I never got the feeling from the first two movies that Lucy was jealous of her sister, so this is a bit of a surprise. It's also not part of the book if the reviews I've read are accurate. Edmund and Caspian are tempted by a pool that turns everything into gold. But the focus in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is definitely more on the transformation of Eustace.
Being the selfish little runt that he is, Eustace finds a stash of gold and treasure, and gives into the temptation. As a result, he is turned into a dragon. It is the lessons he learns while a flying dragon and his contribution to the battle to place the swords at the table of Aslan that bring about his amazing transformation. While the battle moves the plot forward, it is not the focus of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as it was in the previous two installments. Even Edmund is surprised that he and Lucy were called back to Narnia when there are no wars to fight.
The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe is definitely my favorite out of the three, but The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a close second. Eustace's transformation is a big reason for that. While my understanding is that his conversion back to a boy is handled much differently than it was in the book, I do feel, overall the movie captured Lewis's message. This is the only movie of the three that I felt a PG rating was okay.
While opening weekends for the second two movies were significantly less than for the first one, the movies still did well. The Silver Chair is listed on the IMDB as in development for release in 2015. A lot can happen in four years, so we'll see what happens.
Actors: Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet
Directors: Michael Apted
Writers: C.S. Lewis, Christopher Markus, Michael Petroni, Stephen McFeely
Producers: Andrew Adamson, Cort Kristensen, Douglas Gresham
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Number of discs: 1
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: April 8, 2011
Run Time: 113 minutes
ASIN: B004M1A21K
SRP: $29.98
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