There is a voyage we all must take in life. One that by the end we come out different, no longer a child, but an adult, and ready face the world as a strong individual. Of course for most of this it is a journey inward, but for the Pevensie children their metamorphosis occurs in a magical land called Narnia.
In the third installment of the Narnia series the youngest Pevensie children, Lucy and Edward, are stuck in Britain with their annoying cousin Eustace while their older siblings are in America. Edward, Lucy, and Eustace are soon swept away to the land of Narnia, where they meet up with Caspian. When we last saw Caspian he was a prince on the run, but now he is a king looking for his father’s old friends. Returning beside Caspian is the heroic rat Reepicheep, who was voiced by Eddie Izzard in the last film, but now by Simon Pegg. The young heroes must set sail on Caspian’s ship, The Dawn Treader, to stop an evil that is corrupting Narnia. This green misty menace brings out the worst in people, looking inside of you and playing on your fears and desires. Only when seven swords are laid on Aslan’s table will this great evil be destroyed forever.
This movie was about change, both on film and off. When Prince Caspian was dubbed a failure Disney bailed on making the next book in the beloved series, but 20th Century Fox was more than happy to take those reins. Next, the substitution from Izzard to Pegg as Reepicheep was awkward at first, but Pegg was more than capable of taking over. Finally, director Michael Apted took the chair from Andrew Adamson, who had directed the first two films. Apted is more known for directing television and documentaries, but I think he did a good job with this high budget, high adventure film.
In this film Lucy and Edward are both on the verge of becoming adults, which centered the film around the green mist manipulating the confused adolescents. Edward desire to become a man, and Lucy’s insecurity about not feeling as pretty as her sister drives them both to the edge. The acting in this film is par, but nothing special. However it had been a while since I read this book so I forgot where the character of Eustace went, and his relationship with Reepicheep. To me it was the most enjoyable part of the film. Most of which I will give credit to Simon Pegg and the young actor Will Poulter. I did enjoy Ben Barnes portrayal as Caspian better in this film, maybe because he dropped that silly Spanish accent.
The 3-D experience didn’t add much to the film except when it came to the green mist slithering around the characters, whispering in their ears. But the films special effects are solid, especially the dragon. The Narnia series is also heavy into being a metaphor as Christian mythology. This really isn’t obvious until the end of the film. It was just an enjoyable, holiday, family, adventure, film.
This film is way better than Prince Caspian, but I’d have to watch The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe again to see which one is better. Although being how this film takes place mainly on a ship at sea I did get a Pirate of the Caribbean vibe most of the time. If you’re a critic who doesn’t know how to enjoy a non-award nominee, family film, then stay away. I hope this film does well so that I we can see if Fox does The Silver Chair next or just goes straight to the Narnian apocalypse known as The Last Battle.
Rating: B-
No comments:
Post a Comment