Sometime back, I had written about what defines a successful movie franchise. The operative word I had used there was that it should be SCALEABLE. If anyone had told C S Lewis in the early part of the previous century that his serial fantasy would be converted to even one movie I am sure he would have laughed at the idea. But I am also quite sure that, secretly, Mr. Lewis would have been visualizing the same in his extremely fertile mind. Very few have come close to the term “fantasia” as CS. And very few movie makers can say that they have done justice to a book. The trio of Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely & Michael Petroni has done a super job of converting CS’s masterpiece to the silver screen. Add to that the class of director Michael Apted and you have the 3rd in this wonderful series of Fantasia.
This edition of the Chronicles starts with the younger Pevensie’s – Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) – who find themselves at their uncles home for a little while since their return from Narnia. Their cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) doesn’t quite like this arrangement and makes it quite obvious in the flesh and more so in his diary. He actually wishes that he could treat his 2 cousins like insects by putting them in a jar. Needless to say, he doesn’t believe a single word of their experiences at Narnia. But he is about to get a crash course in the terms “faith” and “belief” when an obscure painting on the wall actually comes to life and takes the 3 children back into the blue waters of Narnia where Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) rescues them. Eustace is obviously not pleased with this new development and makes his displeasure evident when Reepicheep (the voice of Simon Pegg) welcomes him on board. But he just cant take it anymore when he bumps into a talking minotaur.
Caspian informs the supreme heads of Narnia that all is well and Narnia is finally at peace. He is on a voyage on the Dawn Treader in search of his father’s 7 most trusted aides – The 7 Lords of Narnia. The journey would take him first to the Lone Islands where the Lords escaped to when Narnia fell into wrong hands. On their way they realize that the search for the Lords would also lead them on a mission to secure the seven swords – one for each lord – which have to be collected together and placed @ Aslan’s table. This would ensure that the forces of evil which are slowly getting stronger would be put to rest.
This edition of the Chronicles sees a slight change of guard. We move on to director Michael Apted – most well known for his direction of Gorillas in the Mist and The World is not enough. As mentioned earlier, Apted does a wonderful job of getting the book onto the screen. Like the previous 3 editions, this one continues to make full use of Computer Graphics with creations such as the transparent mermaids, Sea Serpents, Dragons and most importantly the Dawn Treader itself. Apted is ably supported by the cast who continue to get their charm and innocence on screen. All in all, this edition of the Chronicles clearly continues from where it left off and is a complete treat for the family as a whole. Kids are surely going to love this one. 7 on 10 in my books for sure. Maybe more for you Narnia fans.
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