The third i
nstalment of the Narnia Chronicles sees Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) Pevensie evacuated to their aunt’s because of the war. There, they are irritated by their precocious cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) who believes his superior knowledge of facts is far preferable to their fanciful tales of fictional worlds. This argument is to be ended suddenly and dramatically when they get enveloped in a picture of the ocean and end up aboard the Dawn Treader captained by the rather fine Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) who is intent on sailing to the edge of the world to find his father.
The voyage takes them through some spectacular 3D landscapes where they make some unusual and wonderful new friends. They are forced to battle with their own dark thoughts and temptations as their quest unfolds. Ego, vanity, pride and greed are all called into question along the way. Spells are cast and battles are fought. Comic relief comes in the form of the constant bickering and competing between Reepicheep (Simon Pegg) and the annoying Eustace who gets taught quite a few lessons in valour and bravery.
I enjoyed the movie as much as the first two instalments, neither of which I thought came anywhere near outdoing the magic of the books. The Pevensie children were heroes in my young imagination but I find the characters a little irritating watching them as an adult on the screen. My kids (5 and 3) where enthralled as they are with anything involving magic and swordfighting and sincere apologies to the rest of the audience for my 3yr old’s running commentary, ‘That’s so silly, lions can’t talk!’ There was perceptible unrest in the cinema after about 90mins of the 115min running time. Such a young audience has difficulty sitting still for that long even if they are interested. Most of the Dads seemed to stay awake though which is saying something.
The movie as a whole makes a good family outing. There are aspects of it that will appeal to all ages of both genders. If you enjoyed the first two you won’t be disappointed with this but it stands alone well for those who have never visited the magical world of Narnia before. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, like the others, will make you want to go back.
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at cinemas across Ireland in 2D and 3D from 9th December 2010
