The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (2010)

I had to look up some figures for the Narnia movies before I began writing this review. According to Box Office Mojo, the first film had a production budget of $180M and made a shade over $745M worldwide. Not bad. The second film had a production budget of $225M and made just under $420M worldwide. And this film had a production budget of $155M, bringing in a worldwide take of just over $415M. How the hell the Prince Caspian movie ended up costing $225M is beyond me, but it seems clear that the series was scuppered at that point. Which is a bit of a shame. Because while The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader ended up making the least at the box office, it's a contender for the best of the three films, taking two main characters and throwing them almost immediately into a wild adventure that involves dark magic, a hunt for special items that can be used to stop an evil force, a dragon, and much more.

Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes) are miserable, staying at the home of relatives, including a most horrid cousin, Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter). It doesn't take them long, however, to get back to Narnia, this time through a painting of a sailing ship. And the astonished Eustace ends up there with them, meeting Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) and his crew, and soon seeing sights that convince him he must be hallucinating.

I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I liked this film more than the previous two Narnia adventures. There are still some problems. None of these films work as well as they could, but this one comes the closest, and that is despite an adventure that focuses on the two youngest, and previously most annoying, members of the Pevensie family.

Henley and Keynes both do better here than they have done previously, obviously improving slightly with each movie in the series, due to the script helping them out and the fact that they have grown up a bit. Barnes is still absolute fine as the courageous and good-hearted Prince Caspian, and Gary Sweet does pretty well as his right hand man. There's no Eddie Izzard returning to voice Reepicheep so we get Simon Pegg instead. He's fine, despite the fact that his vocal performance feels like a slight step down from Izzard's fun turn. But it's Poulter who steals a handful of scenes, even when he's being an absolutely slappable pain in the backside for the first third of the film. He's entertaining to dislike, and then gradually becomes easier to like as the story allows him to be changed by everything he experiences.

It's Michael Apted sliding into the director's chair this time, working from the script by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, and Michael Petroni (the other newcomer), and he does a nice job of following on from the previous films, in terms of the look and feel of the thing, while taking viewers in a slightly different direction. There are times when this feels more like a Pirates Of The Caribbean movie (and I know not everyone will view that as an improvement), thanks to the menagerie of creatures, the action sequences, and the nautical nature of it all, and times when, just occasionally, it feels like a film that could have been just as much fun with a lower budget and some lovely stop-motion work in place of the CGI, in the vein of an old Harryhausen flick.

It's a shame that this is where the series ended, considering the fact that there were other adventures fans of the books may have wanted to see, but it's also not a bad thing that it finished on a such a relative high note.

And, as a recurring way to end these Narnia-focused reviews, can we all just agree that Aslan is a Superlion who could always help everyone a lot sooner than he does? Bloody poser, just waiting for his big moment in the finale to save the day and then pretend it was a close call.*

*I did warn you that I would also end this Narnia review with this statement.

7/10

You can buy the boxset here.
Americans can get the movies here.

The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

A cinematic return to Narnia, with many of the same people both in front of and behind the cameras, Prince Caspian both benefits and suffers from the fact that it's not just the first film all over again. It's good to visit Narnia for a tale that isn't as familiar (to those who haven't read the books anyway), but it's also not so good when you realise that the tale being told this time around, well, it's just not quite as enjoyable.

Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) are once again transported to Narnia, this time called by a magical horn, unbeknownst to them. Over a thousand years have passed since they were last in that world, although it has only been about a year in their own time, and much has changed. There has been division and war, and there's currently a young man (the titular prince) who may improve the situation, if he is kept alive long enough to ascend to the throne.

As well as the Pevensie siblings returning to our screens, we also get some more screentime for Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson again) and the White Witch (Tilda Swinton). But it's the new characters who make the strongest impressions. Peter Dinklage and Warwick Davis are two Narnian dwarves, with the former getting almost as much screentime as any of the other leads, Eddie Izzard is the voice of a swashbuckling mouse named Reepicheep, and Ken Stott voices a knowledgeable badger named Trufflehunter.

Everyone onscreen does well enough, with most of the younger cast members slightly improved compared to their previous work. Ben Barnes is Prince Caspian, and manages to portray his character as a good man without ever becoming annoying pious, and his main enemies are played well by Sergio Castellitto, playing his character of King Miraz in over-the-top pure villain mode, and Pierfrancesco Favino (who plays a General to the King, torn between duty and considering how to play out events in a way that will allow him an escape).

Director Andrew Adamson does well enough at the helm, once again, but his best work is done in the script department, once again alongside Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus. This feels like a more mature work than The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, yet it is all put together in a nicely uncomplicated, but also unpatronising, way. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it is as consistently entertaining as it could be. From the very opening scenes through to the finale, there's always the sense that viewers should be caring more about the events unfolding onscreen. A little bit of restructuring would have helped to improve this, perhaps starting with the Pevensies being whisked back to Narnia and letting viewers discover the changes and dangers of the world that was once very familiar to them at the same time as the main characters.

And, as a recurring way to end these Narnia-focused reviews, can we all just agree that Aslan is a Superlion who could always help everyone a lot sooner than he does? Bloody poser, just waiting for his big moment in the finale to save the day and then pretend it was a close call.*

*Yes, I plan on also ending my next review with this statement.

6/10

You can buy the boxset here.
Americans can get the movies here.

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005)

Like so many others of my generation, and anyone slightly younger who caught it on repeats or VHS/DVD, the BBC adaptation of The Chronicles Of Narnia retains a special place in my heart. I recently bought the boxset, although I haven't been brave enough to revisit it yet. Whatever you think of various aspects of it (the religious allegory running through it, how irritating the kids can be, how it struggles to remain exciting whenever the White Witch is offscreen), there's no denying that The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is a classic fantasy tale for children of all ages. Which makes it unsurprising that it got the cinematic treatment at a time when so many companies were desperate to find "the next Harry Potter". I'm just surprised that it took so long.

I'm also surprised that it was this weak, although perhaps that is more to do with the inherent flaws of the source material.

The story may be well known, but I'll recap it anyway. Siblings Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are all bundled off during wartime to live in a large house in the country. While playing a game of hide and seek one day, Lucy hides in a wardrobe, stepping further back into the depths of it until she ends up in the magical land of Narnia. Nobody else believes her, of course, when she finds her way back to wartime Britain, but it's only a matter of time until they all end up in the wardrobe, and all end up in Narnia. They find themselves in danger, thanks to a prophecy that means the White Witch (Tilda Swinton) wants them killed, but all might be well, thanks to the magical Aslan (a lion, voiced by Liam Neeson) and his army of friendly creatures willing to defy the will of the White Witch.

In terms of production value and design, there's nothing wrong with this movie. Pacing issues aside, it has a runtime of just over two and a quarter hours, everything is in place for what should be a wonderful fantasy adventure.

Director Andrew Adamson, who delivered a lot of fun with the first two Shrek movies, should have been an easy fit for the material. He also helps adapt the C. S. Lewis book, alongside Ann Peacock, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely. Which may be where things first went awry. You see, there's a feeling throughout this movie that nobody wants to be responsible for messing it up, either due to reverence for the source material or the responsibility of setting up a potential franchise, or both. The spectacle and adventure is there, the sense of fun is not.

It's also not helped by the fact that almost every child actor is eminently slappable. No offence to those playing the main roles, it's the way they are written (although the younger two, played by Henley and Keynes make it a bit worse with some added precociousness). The older cast members all do great work. James McAvoy is a lovely Mr. Tumnus, Tilda Swinton is superbly fierce as the White Witch, and memorable voice performances are delivered by Ray Winstone, Dawn French, Rupert Everett and, of course, Liam Neeson (lending his timbre and gravitas to the role of the mighty Aslan).

Perhaps the biggest problems with The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe are twofold, the flaws inherent in the source material and the fact that many other movies from the past couple of decades did this kind of grand adventure much better. There's nothing here that is bad enough to make it unwatchable. It's just all quite perfunctory, when it should have used the bloated runtime to revel in an excess of memorable characters and visions.

Also, a problem with both this and the sequels, can we all just agree that Aslan is a Superlion who could always help everyone a lot sooner than he does? Bloody poser, just waiting for his big moment in the finale to save the day and then pretend it was a close call.

6/10

You can buy the boxset here.
Americans can get the movies here.