The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader opens with Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund Pevensie (Skander Keynes) living with their irritable cousin, Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter) in England, while the older siblings, Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley) are living it up in America. While Lucy and Edmund are discussing their plight and are being insulted by Eustace, Lucy spies a painting on the wall that contains a lone ship, very Narnian in design, adrift on what appears to be moving water. Before the trio can blink, the painting comes alive, water begins filling the room and they are thrust into the ocean, right in front of King Caspian's (Ben Barnes) royal ship, the Dawn Treader! Eustace doesn't know what to make of things, since he has been deriding Lucy and Edmund for their silly fairytales and now he is in one. It seems the new King is on a quest to locate the Seven Great Lords, dear friends of his father who went into hiding after his father was killed. Each Lord has a magical sword that when all are gathered and placed upon Aslan's Table, can stop the evil force which resides on the Dark Island, before it corrupts all of Narnia.
As they travel to the various islands, they will discover slave traders who sacrifice island inhabitants to an evil green mist, dragons and treasure, Dufflepuds, who are odd one-footed people who live in fear of a magician who rules their island, and even sea serpents, which plague their journey. They even pick up a crew member in Rhince, a man whose wife was given to the green mist and who hopes to someday rescue her; he is joined by his young daughter Gael, who stows away and becomes Lucy's protégé.
Eustace, who begins as an intolerable young man, is soon chastised and then befriended by Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg), the brave mouse warrior, who seems to impart some of his good-heartedness on Eustace. Eustace later falls prey to one of the island temptations, but uses his stumbling block to actually help the crew defeat an evil sea serpent and rallies the crew to finally accept him. As the children are once again reunited with Aslan on his island, they realize that this is their last trip to the magical land of Narnia and reluctantly return home. However, the exciting memories of their adventures as crew members on the Dawn Treader will stay with them forever.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the most exciting of all three Narnia films, in my opinion. While the other movies had bigger fight scenes, for some reason this one really held my attention and it was fun from start to finish. There are a ton of special features cleverly tucked into a map of the islands, but, for the most part, they are short and sweet, giving the viewer a quick rundown on the particular island highlighted or the creatures from that island. There are interviews with the cast, as well as Commentary, plus VFX Progression, which is a way to watch the film by flipping back and forth between the completed film and what was actually being filmed against green screen. There is so much CG in the film and I hadn't even realized it, it was so excellently done. This special feature is highly recommended for anyone interested in filmmaking and special effects. There is also a booklet of collectible postcards from the movie.
If you've been enjoying the Narnian films so far, this one will only cement those feelings. While I liked the previous movies, I loved this one and can't wait for the next. Highly recommended.
