I posted yesterday about my desire to see quite a few movies in theaters throughout 2011 and then to write a visceral, day-after review to compare hype to happiness. I am beginning this blog series, which I have decided to call Reflections in Film, with two movies here at the end of 2010 which I have been very excited to see. First, Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and second, TRON: Legacy.
Reflections in Film will be part movie review and part self discovery. I will write about the film itself: what I think it did well, what I think it did badly, and perhaps comment on different portions as necessary. I will also write on why I liked it, and what I took away from the experience. I admit that I am unsure of how, or if, this will work, but I am eager to try.
I will endeavor, as I can, to write the post the day after the viewing, in order to give the film a chance to percolate in my mind, but still be fresh and rememberable. However, with Dawn Treader, I am a few days late, but I do not think it will matter too much.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
History: I saw Dawn Treader on Saturday, December 11th. It is the third film in the Chronicles of Narnia saga, based on the books by CS Lewis. The first was the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in which four children from World War II era England discover a magical world called Narnia, accessed through a magical wardrobe. They discover that they are prophesied heroes, called from their world to defeat an evil White Witch and free Narnia from her spells of winter without end or Christmas. They are aided by the powerful lord of Narnia, a lion named Aslan. The second film was Prince Caspain, set a year after the first film. The four children are once again called to Narnia, this time via a subway station, and discover that several hundred years have passed in Narnia, and all whom they knew are dead. A race of humans from outlying islands have invaded Narnia and have pushed all the magical creatures and beings deep into hiding. An evil lord seeks to depose the rightful heir to the throne, Prince Caspian, and the children come to his aid in a battle to assure his kingdom while restoring freedom for all in Narnia. At the conclusion of the battle, the two eldest children are told by Aslan that they will never return to Narnia. The third film is the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in which the two youngest children, some time after the second film, enter Narnia, along with their disbelieving cousin, through an enchanted painting. They arrive in the middle of the ocean and are rescued by King Caspian, who has launched an expedition to find seven lords who vanished some time ago. The children, the King, and the crew embark on a journey at sea through many perils and adventures, all the way to the end of the world where lies Aslan’s country. At the conclusion of this quest, the two original children are told they will never return to Narnia, but that their cousin may yet.
Hype: Having been a fan of the book series, and liking the first two films well enough, I was Moderately excited to see Dawn Treader. The first film followed the first book very faithfully and suffered a bit for it, being slightly stiff. The second film took a few more liberties with the intricacies of the book and became an living adaptation, holding true to the heart of the story while adjusting the story itself to become a decent movie. I prefer Prince Caspian to Lion, Witch, Wardrobe mostly because it was funnier, darker, and explored the characters in some depth.
I was hoping for more of the same from Dawn Treader, because several aspects of the story deal more heavily with internal conflict than with battles (though there are some); and the first two Narnia films delivered a magical, wonderful world, and I longed for a return to that world with all the texture therein.
The Good: I think that Voyage of the Dawn Treader stayed true to the book, in terms of story, plot, and characterization. I could feel the magic of being once again in Narnia. The character of the cousin, a boy named Eustace – who believes firmly in science, and logic, but who is also a simpering, preening brat – was perfectly cast. Will Poulter had only starred in one other feature film, but his performance as Eustace was spot on. He was every inch the character that one loves to hate. The other two main characters, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, were again portrayed by Georgia Henley and Skandar Keynes as they had been in the first two Narnia movies. I love seeing the maturity that an actor brings to a role as the actor grows physically between films in a series, especially when the character is also supposed to age and mature, and the actors chosen for the first Narnia film are still the best choice for the third. They embody CS Lewis’s characters quite well.
Aside from the cast, the film was beautiful, full of vivid detail, and immersive. I didn’t think the digital effects were overdone at all (a flaw more and more common in this current golden age of computer driven cinematography) which I greatly appreciated.
The Bad: Time. I felt rushed through the story, and I didn’t like it. The journey takes the children and King Caspian to several different islands and locations and on each one new information is learned about the lost lords, or a new challenge is faced, and it just felt like the film rushed each of these destinations. I would have preferred a bit more exploration at each turn. Both the first and second Narnia films took time to set the scene and evoke the mood, and gave the audience place to observe the main characters’ emotions and struggles at each new situation. In my memory of Dawn Treader such observations were a blur they happened so quickly.
The character of Eustace, on one particular island, turns into a dragon, an all too real metaphor for the way he acts and treats people. Throughout the book he struggles with the fact that he may never return to human form, and the horror of his own being, and eventually is forced to go to a dark internal place in the struggle for humility and repentance. In the movie this happens, but like most things, it is too quick. There is a sense of Eustace’s emotional state, but goes from human to dragon to human much too rapidly, and the audience doesn’t have time to be acquainted with his situation. This would have been a conflict well worth the exploration.
To compare to an earlier film, in Prince Caspian, the character of the eldest Pevensie child, Peter, struggles with his own growth as a person. At the end of Lion, Witch, Wardrobe Peter was made High King of all of Narnia, and he and his siblings lived there many years as adult regents before returning to England, once again to be children. At the beginning of Prince Caspian, Peter is shown having a very hard time adjusting from King to nobody, from adult to child, and even throughout his return to Narnia, Peter’s pride and lust for power take him to dark places where his decisions impact the lives of many. He struggles with the new rightful King Caspian and eventually finds his place in both worlds. Prince Caspian gave Peter’s character time to evolve, whereas Dawn Treader rushed through the evolution of Eustace, both literal and metaphorical.
However, the rapid pace of the film wasn’t enough to ruin my enjoyment of the film, nor was it enough to obscure the characters’ growth. It merely hovered on the edges, perceptible but not necessarily distracting.
The Personal: As I mentioned earlier, I love the Chronicles of Narnia in book form, and have a fondness for their movie counterparts. I like a film that presents realistic characters, and shows those characters growing in some fashion throughout the film. Sure, I love a good fight sequence, explosion, or action piece, but what really makes a movie for me is the ability to connect with the characters. Theater, film, books, and campfire stories only work because the audience sees themselves in the people of the story. Maybe they recognize an exact reflection. Maybe they see the opposite, their perfect self, or maybe they recognize their own flaws, but they witness something of themselves in the characters. The ability to form solid connections, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually depends upon the actor’s portrayal, the director’s influence, and the cinematography’s framing of the character. In Dawn Treader, the first and third were there in spades, while the second was weak. I knew what was coming for each character and wanted to feel that connection, but the timing issue disrupted that enough to through off my emotional bonding. I enjoyed the film, but didn’t get to project myself into Eustace, or Edmund, or Lucy and see my struggles, triumphs, or goals in their own, and for me something was lost.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 Dawn Treaders (barely matched hype level)
a simple man 