The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Judging by the huge success of the first film adaptation of C.S. Lewis` "Narnia" books, Disney was less than pleased with the box office results of the second film. In tough financial times, a third adaptation seemed less than lucrative, so the decision was made to cede the rights to Fox. Now, with Michael Apted on board as the new director, just two of the Pevensie siblings set sail for another thrilling adventure in "The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage on the Dawn Treader".

After Peter and Susan move to America to live with their parents, Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are now forced to live with their unloved cousin Eustace (Will Poulter). But they're soon summoned back to Narnia, and through a painting they end up right on the proud ship Dawn, where they meet King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and the brave mouse Riepischiep again. Too bad Eusachius has also arrived in the magical world, where his constant nagging dampens the joy of their reunion a bit. But there is no time to fret over the troublemaker, for Narnia is in grave danger.

If Caspian and the Pevensie siblings fail to find the seven lost Lords of Telmar and place their swords on Aslan's tablet, Narnia is doomed. But the search for the lords takes the adventurers to dangerous places, where they face not only slave drivers, mermaids and mystical creatures, but also their own dark sides...

"The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage on the Dawn Treader" is qualitatively somewhere between the more child-oriented, heavily religiously tinged first installment and the slightly darker, more action-packed second film. With Bond director Michael Apted, a director was hired who definitely knows his craft and who managed well to work the rather episodic book template into a coherently flowing adventure film. But unfortunately, this third film also fails to give the characters the depth that makes other fantasy series like "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings" so special. Sure, the "Narnia" films have a certain amount of spectacle value, and again - despite lower budgets - some of it is achieved quite impressively. But in the end, at most images, but hardly the characters remain in memory. No wonder, then, that none of the young actors has yet managed the really big breakthrough.

It's a pity that the films are too concerned with providing child-friendly family entertainment that they have never really exploited the potential of the popular and enormously successful book series so far. The third book in particular, one of the most popular of the seven-part series, has so many exciting and fantastic ideas in it that are just about predestined for a big screen adventure. And yet the film version seems nice, well-behaved and entertaining - but nothing more. And that's just not enough to stand up to the mighty competition and secure a place in the history of fantasy cinema in the long run.

The relationship between the brave mouse Riepischiep and the (initially) annoying Eustachius, portrayed by "Son of Rambow" actor Will Poulter, is actually the highlight of the film, while especially Lucy and Edmund remain surprisingly pale. Even the inherently charismatic Ben Barnes, the most positive surprise from Part 2, delivers a solid but unimpressive performance. Younger viewers, for whom the third "Narnia" film was shortened by an extra 1:30 minutes or so in Germany, won't mind much, as they get quite a few great effects, mystical characters and engaging fantasy worlds born. But slightly older "Narnia" fans will certainly also feel that a lot of potential has simply been given away here.

In selected cinemas, the flick can also be seen in 3D. However, "The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is again one of those movies where the 3D effect is completely unnecessary and almost completely ineffective. Except for a few nice moments, the retroactively added 3D effect seems less than spectacular. To be sure, the whole thing isn't as bad as other films that were shot in the conventional method and only processed afterwards, such as "Fight of the Titans". But even "Narnia" in 3D is nowhere near the level set very high by "Avatar".

Bottom line, "The Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is a nice family film, a good fantasy adventure, and a nice 3D spectacle. The target audience won't care, but despite all these positive-sounding attributes, the film is a disappointment in that the potential for a very big cinematic experience has been squandered here. Pretty to look at, but unfortunately not much more. And therefore applies: who liked part 1, which will also come here at his expense!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp