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Same Old Ship

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", the third installment in the Narnia series, and the first of the films in 3D, is a well-paced, pretty film. It's a good film for children as well as adults. I don't expect that anyone will fall asleep watching this fantasy action-adventure.

This installment opens with Lucy and Edward Pevensie, orphaned and living with their cousins, the Scrubbs. Edmund (Skandar Keynes) is eager to apply his leadership skills picked-up in Narnia, and to escape the Scrubbs, by joining the Army, like his older brother, Peter (William Moseley). Unfortunately, Edmund is not yet of age. Lucy (Georgie Henley) also dreads life with the Scrubbs and longs to be with her beautiful sister, Susan (Anna Popplewell), who is in the United States.

We get a glimpse of the Scrubb household. The uncle ignores the Pevensies, sitting in his chair, face unseen behind his newspaper. The wife enters the film at the end as a voice calling from offscreen. The only Scrubb we get to know is Eustace (Will Poulter), the arrogant, whining cousin, obsessed with insects and math and with absolutely no patience for fairy tales.

Shortly after the situation is established in England, the three kids enter Narnia by means of a seascape painting that starts to pour out of its frame, risking to drown the heros in Lucy's bedroom. The three emerge in an ocean, where they are hauled aboard Prince Caspian's Dragon-themed ship, The Dawn Treader. Among the crew is Reepicheep, a gallant and loquacious rodent.

The remainder of the film focuses on these five characters and their adventures on the sea. They set sail, island-hopping as they search for seven Lords and the mystery behind a green fog that has been taking over other parties at sea.

The kids have a number of adventures: Reepicheep gives Eustace a lesson in sword play, Lucy conjures spells inside an invisible mansion, and Edmund defeats a mighty sea serpent. Each is tested along the way: Lucy finds a spell to transform her into Susan, that tests her confidence in herself. Edmund confronts being second in command both to Peter at home and to Caspian in Narnia. Eustace is transformed into a Dragon after succumbing to greed, and learns from Reepicheep (and Aslan) how to act courageously.

The CGI is mostly good. Reepicheep is cartoonish and cuddly by design and the sea monster is very well done. The 3D is largely used to create the world; there are, thankfully, no daggers hurled at the audience. But, there are a lot of perpendicular angles on the ship and some of the foreshortening a bit ridiculous, especially during long takes. The production team seems to have the most trouble depicting a CGI, 3D boat tossed on a stormy sea.

While the boat, sea serpent, and castles jump off the screen, the performances remain flat. This is largely a result of the even pacing rather than an indictment of the actors. There are no long, suspenseful, shot-in-low-light scenes, like one might relish from the original "Clash of the Titans" or an old "Sinbad" (not the comedian) film. There is no time for us to understand Lucy's struggle with her decision to test the transformation spell. The mystical creatures, like the Minotaur or sea serpent, are introduced so quickly, as part of this world, that there is no sense of wonder, like we get in the "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings" films, or in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", where Tilda Swanson's White Queen could embody evil deliciously, humiliating Edmund for selling out his family for a piece of Turkish delight.

So, 2.5 stars is a glass half-full for devotees and any kids you want to take to the movies this holiday. But it's a glass half-empty for those hoping for some onscreen magic.