With the book (see previous post) fresh in my mind, I re-watched the 2010 movie adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In this movie, Edmund and Lucy are joined by their obnoxious cousin Eustace in a return to the magical land of Narnia. This time, they must assist King Caspian in finding the seven lost lords by sailing to the end of the world. Along the way, they encounter an insidious green mist responsible for enslaving many free peoples and bringing darkness to many. To beat it, the children must find and collect the swords of the lost lords on Aslan's Table. Can they prevail?
Boo. Like the previous movie, they presented some book material in a different order, which was okay. Unfortunately, they also added things (green mist, collecting swords, etc.) which completely changed the objective (and hence the spirit) of the overall voyage as recorded in the book. Some other complaints:
- where Prince Caspian felt overly long (at 2.5 hours), this felt rushed (at under 2). High points of the book were rushed and deprived of their potential, while extra (and unnecessary, in my opinion) scenes were added.
- again they got the essence of some characters wrong. Edmund and Caspian fight at times and seem to lack trust in each other, which never happens in the book.
- again Aslan's role seems minimized.
Ending on a positive note, they nailed the casting of Eustace- I quite enjoyed him. And Reepicheep was similarly a fun character, but for entirely different reasons. Overall, though, this is a forgettable adaptation.
Rating: C-
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