The final Chronicles of Narnia is a bore

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader we meet up with Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmond (Skandar Keynes), the two youngest of the four siblings that have been the central focus of the two previous installments of the Narnia franchise. Separated from the rest of the their family, the brother and sister are living with their aunt and uncle in Cambridge, England which is enveloped in the early stages of World War II.  It isn’t too long before the pair, along with their annoying cousin named Eustace (Will Poulter), is swept up through a mystical painting (no wardrobe this time) and plunged into Narnia’s Eastern Sea. Instantly they are taken aboard the Dawn Treader (treader not trader), a roaming ship captained by the King formerly known as Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes).

After a brief run-in with slave traders (traders not treaders), the crew’s path is set before them and His Royal Highness and company begin a search for seven lords and their seven swords. The reasons way are vague but it seems that the weaponry is needed to defeat an evil green mist that is prowling across the land and abducting the good citizens of Narnia. The quest leads them to many exotic locals, including the aptly named Dark Island, as they search for the land of Aslan located at the edge of the world. In case you are new to the series, Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) is the great King of Narnia; a talking Lion who is reminiscent  of The Lion King’s Mufasa with additional Christian overtones.

The Narnia series has always been a mild, slight franchise that pales in comparison to the superior Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Dawn Treader is the most insubstantial installment of the bunch. After the second film, Prince Caspian, grossed a little more than half of the money it’s predecessor, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, gathered, Disney Studios opted out of the third film and the loss of quality is apparent. Treader is filled with costumes that look like they’ve never been worn before while the  props look like props and not genuine articles that would be found in a fantastical world. The effects are hit and miss and feature a marvelous sea serpent for the film’s climax while the sets are populated by men/creatures that are obviously merely people in suits. The 3D used in the film is overdone and distracting. While other bad efforts in the format such as Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender have been flat and lifeless, Dawn Treader suffers from the opposite: too much dimension. Everything is popping to the point of disconnecting itself from the screen and the faces feature noses that float before the actors as if they weren’t actually connected. In an attempt to add extra depth to the imagery and avoid flat faces, the 3D crew has created a protruding and unrealistic mess.

The film’s director, Michael Apted, is out of his element and it shows. Best known for well-crafted dramas such as Coal Miner’s Daughter and Gorillas in the Mist, Apted has tried his hand at action before with the lackluster Bond installment, The World is Not Enough and struggles with this film’s tone and fantastical settings. Elements are disconnected and confusing and there is never any rhythm achieved. As Lucy and Edmond, Henley and Keynes make for dull and irksome leads while Barnes as Caspian is capable enough even though his bizarre accent from the previous film is inexplicably gone. The only energy provided by the cast comes from Poulter as cousin Eustace (rhymes with “useless”) and Chief Mouse Reepicheep (voiced by an unrecognizable Simon Pegg who has taken over for Eddie Izzard). The pair shares some real chemistry that the rest of the players are sadly lacking.

This film might please the fan base that is content of merely seeing this beloved story up on the big screen. Author C.S. Lewis’ masterworks are true classics in every sense of the word. This is a weak attempt to capture the magic of the books and seems more like an attempt to capture the money from the people who love them.