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Movie review: ‘Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’
Lucy Makes ‘Narvia Voyage’ Worth The Trip to the Cinema
BY MAGGIE SCOTT
Two of the Pevensie children are off on another soul-stirring adventure in Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are stuck in Cambridge, England, with their snotty brat of a younger cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). (Shown in photo above)
Eustace is a scoffing skeptic over the “nursery rhymes” business of Narnia and considers his intrusive relatives to be like so many insects he wishes he could impale.
Lucy misses her older siblings, Peter (William Moseley), and Susan (Anna Popplewell) who’s away at school and “fancied” by a naval officer. It’s still wartime and Edmund slips down to the recruiting office, where he tries to pass himself off as 18 and gets called a “squirt” for all his patriotic trouble.
That stings for a boy who fought armies and became known as Edmund the Just for his bravery in Narnia. Lucy (known as The Valiant in Narnia) is the steadying, practical peacemaker; but, it’s obvious there must be an intervention in their lives with Eustace Scrubbs.
It starts with a magic maritime painting on the wall whose waves suddenly swell (neat effect, if you see the film in 3D) and come crashing into the bedroom. The inundated room with thrashing children turns into the ocean, where they are about to be run down by a ship with a fearsome dragon figurehead.
Hauled aboard, the kids see it is captained by none other than Caspian (Ben Barnes), who relates that, except for the mysterious disappearance of seven lords from Lone Island, there is peace across all Narnia.
So, why have Lucy and Edmund been “called?” Perhaps, to be guides on a transformative journey by Eustace; and to be challenged to overcome their dark sides. Among the Dawn Treader crew is the Pevensies’ beloved mouse hero, Reepicheep (voice of Simon Pegg), who takes Eustace on as a pet project.
Full of irresponsible trepidation and timidity, Eustace joins his cousins on the search of Lone Island, where it’s soon apparent that off the shores of Narnia, all is not well. Caspian and crew soon discover the island and other isles close to the edge of the world beset with evil forces.
Slave traders have taken Lone Island’s people, Lucy discovers a threat to her identity when she finds a Book of Incantations, Edmund is overcome by a desire to challenge Caspian for power, and a thirst for gold literally turns Eustace into a beast.
Seven swords, a blue star, a sea serpent and the white witch (Tilda Swinton) all test the courage, faith and ingenuity of Edmund, Lucy and Eustace. Knowing that Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson) will heed the plea from a heart unafraid to fight, the children throw themselves into the fray. C.S. Lewis’s allegorical world both expands and contracts in scope in this latest adaptation from his series of books about Narnia.
Even when the perils look dire and exotic, attention always turns back to the youngsters and how they will handle themselves. Neither man nor beast comes off as particularly arresting, nor are the characterizations profound; and the visual experience is only occasionally enhanced by the 3-D format.
As a new character, Eustace’s greatest contribution is as comic relief. Lucy is the true heart of the film, and her voyage of growth in spirit, wisdom and fortitude are worth the trip to the cinema.
A Twentieth Century Fox release, rated PG for strong fantasy action.
