Narnia III: The Pevensies Afloat (Ok, a review of The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader)

[andrewducker]

The problem with The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is the structure of the book. It doesn't really have one. It's a series of events with no real progression, in which people have semi-random encounters with whimsical oddness, a couple of characters learn things about themselves, and then Jesus-Lion turns up and gives the Tin Man a heart, The Cowardly Lion a medal, The Scarecrow a diploma, and Dorothy goes home sends everyone on to their just rewards.

The film attempts to fix this by turning the story into a quest - the Isle Of Dreams (a disturbing vignette in the book) becomes a source of evil, powering the various random encounters, and giving the characters more of a reason to pick up Plot Tokens along the way (the swords of the original exiled lords). It works pretty well as a structural change. The problem is that we still don't care that much about most of the characters. To be honest, the movie would have worked better if they'd changed it more. Lucy and Edmund don't get much to do, and if they'd dumped them (almost) entirely from the movie and just had it be about Eustace's evolution from spoiled brat into decent human being then that part of the story (which is by far the most successful - the relationship between Reepicheep and Eustace is very well done) would have had more room to breathe. As it is, the movie feels cramped and muddled. It's ultimately more gripping than The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe (which I found to be terribly insipid), but I enjoyed it less than I enjoyed Prince Caspian. Much as I enjoyed the books as a child, I think that they're the problem with the movies - hamstringing them in much the same way the first two Harry Potter movies were.

Acting-wise, Caspian, Reepicheep, and Eustace are all good, Edmund and Lucy are improved over earlier films (but still not great). The ship itself looks fantastic, and the CGI is seamless. The action scenes are exciting, and the magic looks magical. I was irked by Aslan's speech at the end, but it's faithful to the book, so it feel churlish that somone put Christianity in my fantasy movie.

The box office figures aren't looking good so far, which is a shame, as I'd love to see The Silver Chair on the big screen. Frankly, I can't ever see anyone filming either The Magician's Nephew or The Last Battle.

Comments

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Which is a shame, because TMN would make an awesome fillum.

I suspect they'll make the Silver Chair anyway, though.

[andrewducker]

I agree that TMN would be a great movie. But I can't see anyone spending the cash to make it, because I doubt it would make the money back.

[snarlish.livejournal.com]

I'm really surprised the series isn't making 'enough' to justify doing the whole series. They were talking about this after the first film and the second film too.

I'm looking forward to Horse and His Boy (hoping they just animate it instead of live-action) and very much The Magician's Nephew. After seeing Lion/witch/wardrobe i was thinking 'well, at least Tilda will be chilling in TMN'.

Haven't seen dawn treader yet, but i was happy with the plot changes in the second film, so I expect they will hit enough 'right' notes for me to enjoy this one too.

[naath.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure.

I think the series gets progressively creepier and less-allegorical more in-ya-face as it goes on. Might just be me though.

Also IIRC TMN was even more disjointed and lacking-in-plot than VotDT... also not memorable :-(

I'd actually like to see the whole series filmed. Creepitude and all. But I suspect that it probably won't be.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

I don't think TMN lacked plot - it was always my favourite as a kid and I wasn't the easiest child to please.

The Silver Chair had a lot of Christian symbolism in it but less direct allegory as far as I remember. The Last Battle on the other hand...

[andrewducker]

The most direct bit of Christian stuff in it, if I remember correctly, is the bit where the Witch is arguing that all the stuff they know about Narnia is just in their heads, because they have no direct proof...

[atreic.livejournal.com]

TMN is clearly the best of the bunch :-)

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Christian symbolism? In what is effectively epic fantasy? Well I never!

I like(d) the Narnia books and it makes me sad that the trailers for Narnia colon lengthy subtitle just make them look like a somewhat generic fantasy film.

[andrewducker]

Not really that generic. They're still definitely the books, with tweaks to make them into something coherent that fits into the space.

And, as you know fine well, the Narnia books go considerably beyond general symbolism :-p

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

More than a few of the epic fantasy books that I used to read had thinly disguised Jesus figures.

[undeadbydawn.livejournal.com]

the animated TLTWATW was by several miles my favourite film as a child. The TV series was, I felt, unfairly bashed [in particular the portrayal of Lucy, who I liked a lot]

the recent film was the most disappointingly watered down piece of rubbish I've had to endure in a long time. People declaring that is had to be 'for the kids' I found a crushing insult to the fucking terrifying White Witch/Queen of Narnia I absolutely damned well loved when I was 8.

Because of that I have pretended the other films didn't happen, though I should probably man up and indulge my inner child. Time to check out Caspian, perhaps....