I enjoyed this movie much more than I enjoyed Prince Caspian, but it did not quite live up to my expectations. I have read this book many times and it is my favorite in the series, so I have a high standard for the moviemakers to perform up to.
The technical parts of the movie (the acting, costumes, effects, design, etc.) were all astounding and beautiful. I loved the Dawn Treader and how it looked as I had imagined it to be. The acting was quite well done; I already knew that Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, and Skandar Keynes would perform well, and was quite impressed with Will Poulter's portrayal of Eustace.
My one problem with the movie is with the plot and the storyline. The writers decided to add an element into the story in an effort to unify the plot. However, I found that it merely cheapened it and made it more of a flimsy usual story. My favorite part of the book had been that the adventures were there just to be just adventures - they had a point (to find the seven lords) but it was not a life-and-death, urgent driving force. I liked that Edmund and Lucy had been called into Narnia merely for fun and not to complete a mission, as in the other books. However, the movie does away with this element. I think that without the green mist (a people-eating evil mist) Fox would have made a good movie.
Besides the mist, there are only little glitches with characters that I have a problem with. First, Edmund seems to be a little jealous that Peter left Caspian in charge, in essence making the same mistake that Peter did in Prince Caspian. But it's not a major part of the movie and Edmund fixes his attitude well enough. My second character trouble (which is really just a matter of preference) is that Eustace becomes nice much too quickly. In the book, he's a positive nuisance without one nice bit at all until the island where he turns into a dragon. But in the movie, they show that he does want to be nice, he just doesn't show it (which is perhaps more realistic and makes him more likeable of a character).
Overall, this is a good movie and though it does not follow the book to all the islands, it gets a good deal of adventures in and you get to see the great lion himself. One of the best lines of the book was included in the movie, too: "In your world I am called by another name. You must learn to call me by that name," talking about how Aslan is Jesus in our world.
This was much better than Prince Caspian and I look forward to see how Michael Apted does his next Narnia adventure: The Magician's Nephew.
Review by Beckyelsie
great review
ReplyDeleteBut I had expected changes, especially since there is now plot line in the book and they just go from Island to Island and each Island is its own plot. Now you might say that Caspian wanted to find the lost lords, and that was the plot. Well its not. It is what kept the book in one. but you can't have that for a movie. a plot usually has a conflict or something that the principals have to get over. In VDT book there wasn't that.
So for me the way the changed it was for the better good of the movie. if they hadn't done it, it would have been a lousy film.
VDT was the one book that didn't have a plot line.
And what you said about the acting I have to disagree. Of the people who had already been in the narnia films(Georgie/Lucy, Skandar/Edmund, Ben/Caspian) Only Ben's acting in my view was actually good. Georgie had come out of the stage of being cute(most child actor are just cute, and haven't really learned how to act, some exceptions are Bailee Madison and Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, and Abigail Breslin, they were actually actors,(well still are)
Georgie had some acting but most of it came from cuteness, so I think she did not do a good job in acting for VDT. Skandar was okay.
Will poulter was fabulous though.
I also like the temptation thing they put in, because for me the book was lacking a lesson that was learned in all the other books. and the Green mist was an introduction to The Lady of the Green Kirtle.
Wow this a pretty lengthy response. I have a lot of different opinion then most people.
Thanks for this review Becky I like hearing/reading what you thought.
Also I should through out there that I am not a narnia book fan, I think they are good books but I don't enjoy them as much as the movies.
Also I am a film freak, I Have very opinionated views on film, and I critique every film I watch whether I mean to or not. After all that is the world I want to get into.
*no
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