Would You Believe...Maxwell Smart Has Seen THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER??

Merrick here...
In a few weeks, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER will be hitting theaters from new-to-the-franchise director (THUNDERHEART, NELL, THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER). Strangely, while we've already enjoyed a number of trailers for the film...as well as a few (deliberately?) leaked images of the Dawn Treader ship and whatnot...we've heard very little early word about how this project is shaping up. Therefore, we thought you might appreciate this insight from Maxwell Smart, who just got a look at the picture which opens December 10.

First off, let me say I have a real love/hate relationship with this franchise. I have always been a huge fan of the books, but I recognize them for what they are: children's fantasy with some interesting spiritual and philosophical undertones. Unfortunately, the makers of the first two films thought they had another "Lord of the Rings" on their hands and treated the material with such a heavy hand that the films nearly suffocated under the weight of their epic aspirations. I enjoyed them, but left both feeling as much exhausted as anything else. I would say "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" at least understands its limits. There is very little attempt (until the very end) to give it a LOTR-type feel, and I actually appreciated the more intimate, personal atmosphere somewhat. It was less "look at me--I'm a fantasy epic" and more "let's just tell the story." And they stayed pretty true to the book, apart from some departures I felt made sense for the most part. Unfortunately, the "let's just tell the story" approach suffers from one major problem: the story of "Dawn Treader" is pretty episodic, lacking a strong central narrative to carry the audience along. In book form that's not a problem, but on-screen it is. The new filmmakers attempt to provide some structure by giving the characters a quest to fulfill (involving seven swords and Aslan's table), and then they adjust one part of the story so that it lasts a lot longer in the movie than it does in the book. This does provide a little glue, but it doesn't keep you from feeling that you're watching assembled parts of a story instead of a cohesive whole. Add to that the problem that the spiritual/moral themes of "Dawn Treader" end up feeling forced and too easily resolved. Temptations to evil appear from time to time (usually in the form of a "green mist"--it's like the smoke monster, from "Lost"...but GREEN!), and the characters momentarily flirt with opportunities to take shortcuts to their desires, but those temptations are (too) easily dismissed. We never feel the urgency or the passion behind the temptation, and we never really feel the struggle to overcome it. Still, the movie does have its charms, not the least of which is Will Poulter as Eustace. Whenever he's on screen I'm willing to forgive the film its faults. Poulter does the impossible--he overacts without looking like he's overacting, which ends up fitting the character of Eustace perfectly. He's hilarious when he's an ass, and as the film goes on his transformation is actually very believable. The other child leads are perfectly fine, and I do think Ben Barnes is a perfect Caspian. As I sit here and reflect, perhaps part of what I'm realizing is that by jettisoning the LOTR-mentality, the filmmakers have brought Narnia back around to what it really is--a kid's story. This is probably the most kid-friendly of the films, shorter in running time, and only scary during a sea-serpent battle (although the second half of that battle is pretty freaky if you don't like snakes--let's just say it gives a new definition to the idea of "opening up" a can of whoop-ass). Kids won't worry too much about the clunky narrative, and the moral/spiritual struggles of the characters certainly won't tax them. I guess I just wish they had taxed me, even a little. Production values are really good, given that (as I understand) the budget was reduced quite a bit when they moved from Disney to Fox. There are some really nice moments, including an interesting way to bring Peter and Susan into a story they aren't supposed to be in. And they did keep some of my absolute favorite parts from the book--the transformation of Eustace (although handled differently, but I didn't mind), Aslan's country, and the relationship between Eustace and Reepicheep. I did miss the Island Where Dreams Come True, which is one of Lewis' most interesting creations (here it's replaced by just a generally "evil place"). Overall, I'd give it a 6/10. If you're a fan of Narnia, you'll probably love it. If not, unless you have young kids you probably won't.

Thanks a ton to Max for sending this in. Really wondering how Dabvid Arnold's score is - he's bringing the music this time instead of Harry Gregson-William, who scored the previous films in the series.
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