12/9/10

Chronicles of Narnia: Dawn Treader

The full title, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is too cumbersome. This latest installment in the classic Narnia series joins us once again with two of the Pevensie siblings Lucy and Edmond, who are the reluctant guests of their loutish cousin Eustace, in pre-WWII London. This massive, heavily CGI production is populated by familiar faces and excellent voices.

Let's talk about a few:
  • Georgie Henley (mostly "Narnia" films) is back as Lucy Pevensie: spunky, pretty good with a bow and arrow, and maybe attracted to Caspian....
  • Ben Barnes ("Locked In" and "Narnia" films) is Prince Caspian. He looks more like Keanu Reeves every day.
  • Skandar Keynes (mostly "Narnia" films) is Lucy's brother Edmund, who is royalty in Narnia and just a teenager back in London.
  • Will Poulter ("Son of Rambow") is that little toad Cousin Eustace. This kid has pretty good comedy chops and his character's evolution seems to be the main theme of this installment.
  • Tilda Swinton ("Burn After Reading" and "Narnia" films) returns as the White Witch, still trying to divert the Pevensies from their goal by tempting them with their fondest wishes.
  • Liam Neeson ("The Next Three Days" and "Narnia" films) is, once again, the voice of Aslan, the majestic lion who promises the orphans that they will see their parents again some day.
  • Simon Pegg ("Star Trek" and "Narnia" films) steps in as the new voice of our charming Reepicheep, the swashbuckling rodent.
This is a huge production with a huge cast, and suffice it to say it has lots of action, with flying dragons, huge sea serpents, endless sword-fights and general melees. Because this is juvenile literature by C.S. Lewis, there are no sweaty bodies and you'll see no blowie uppie stuff.

The audience seemed satisfied and entertained as we exited the theater. Me? Not so much. I never developed a taste for C.S. Lewis; his popular books came along after my childhood.