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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Tonight I saw a special screening of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
First, it was beautifully shot. Every scene in the movie just looked lovely. The scene in the lilies just made me tear up, because it looked exactly like I always thought it would. The Magician's Island was not what I had pictured, but it looked very cool, and I thought the dragon's hoard on Dragon's Island was perfect.
Second, it was way too short, for the amount of story they tried to cram into it. I especially missed the time spent in the Last Sea, on the way to Aslan's Country. That was my favorite part of the book, and the movie just rushed through it. They left out a few key parts too - the albatross leading them out of the Dark Island, and Reepicheep going on to Aslan's Country also being a sacrifice. I found this particularly ironic, since I was at a screening for pastors and other religious folks (I know, I'm surprised the theater didn't burst into flames when I sat down *g*), where the president of Walden Media went on and on about how C.S. Lewis felt this was the most spiritual of all the books (I agree), and they thought they did a good job with it, yet... they botched the scene with the albatross, and Reep's sacrifice, and the numinous experience of the Last Sea. It was really pretty odd because he was patting himself on the back over it.
Third, changes from the book to the movie? Plenty. Honestly, it was almost like they pasted a whole 'nother plot on top of the existing story. I mean, pretty much everything you remember from the book was in there, but it was used in a different way than it was in the book. I didn't like the scene on the Lone Islands very much - again way too rushed and way too different in a way that didn't make sense. Like, the whole island is hiding from the Green Mist, but there's still a thriving slave trade? How does that work?
Edmund's conflict with his jealousy of Caspian and Peter didn't work, considering what we already know of his character. It just didn't make sense, especially after Prince Caspian. Lucy's conflict with her desire to be beautiful, and her envy of Susan, actually worked for me - I liked how it played out, and how it didn't consume her for the entire movie. I thought Caspian's longing for family was a nice touch, but again, could have been so much more if only the movie was longer.
Speaking of Caspian, Ben Barnes was excellent. He really shone every moment he was on screen (and I didn't miss the Spanish accent at all :D). Also excellent was Will Poulter as Eustace. I brought my nephew with me and he LOVED Eustace - thought he was funny, and really loved his transformation arc. The dragon CGI was fantastic, as was the CGI for Reepicheep. And Eustace and Reepicheep's relationship was extremely well-done - I loved the scenes were Reep was riding on Eustace-as-dragon. Also very good in every scene he was in was Gary Sweet as Drinian, another favorite of my nephew.
I liked the character of Liliandil, formerly just known as Ramandu's Daughter. She was a nice addition. I didn't mind the plot of the Seven Swords - I get the reason behind it, giving the movie a more cohesive plot and a reason for action, but god, the Green Mist was stupid, as was the sacrificing people to it. I get the creeping evil, but ugh. Also, the little girl on the Dawn Treader - I got it, she was there because the Green Mist took her mother, but it didn't really work. Again, maybe if the movie was longer and we had more time to spend on her character, it might have been better. The little glimpses of her character interacting with Lucy weren't bad.
For all that Tilda Swinton supposedly only did 20 minutes of shooting for her scenes, they sure used her a lot. Over and over, with Edmund looking like a dear in the headlights, each time. Way overdone. Once, in the Dark Island scene, would have been enough, and driven home the point of the Dark Island. Although I had a problem with Edmund's desire to be his own king, and out from Peter and Caspian's shadow, because that makes no sense with what we already know about his character, the part with Jadis being his worst fear, and tempting him, did make sense. It was just way overused in a short movie.
I loved the scenes on Dragon Island, and Eustace's transformation, as I mentioned before. I thought that Skandar Keynes did his best work as Edmund in those scenes where he was worried about Eustace. I liked how Skandar and Ben Barnes played the Edmund and Caspian relationship (and Ed/Caspian shippers are going to LOVE it), as good friends and brothers.
Sadly, the Lucian shippers will be disappointed, but I really think it would have been too skeevy to play up Lucy's little flirtation there, especially with the age difference between Barnes and Georgie Henley. As I said before, I did like Lucy's temptation, and I liked the dream sequence a lot, and her seeing Aslan.
The fight with the sea serpent was exciting, but, again, green mist was the green mist of stupidity. I did love the end, with them finally arriving at Aslan's Country. Not gonna lie, I was crying when Eustace said goodbye to Reepicheep, and Reepicheep paddling off in his coracle (yay!) to the top of the wave (more yay! just like I always pictured it!). Again, didn't quite understand how Walden, so big on talking about the Christianity of this movie, left out the lamb turning into Aslan. And I didn't understand Aslan giving them a choice about going on to his country and Edmund's reasons for turning it down - neither worked for me.
I loved both the beginning and end framing scenes in Oxford, very well done on all of them, especially the transitions to and from Narnia. Peter and Susan do appear in the movie, and that was nice, seeing them both, especially Susan in the beginning. But that scene from the first trailer, with all four Pevensies striding purposefully towards the camera, was NOT in the movie at all. To be fair, we were told the movie was still a work in progress and not all the CGI was finished (some scenes did feel less polished), so maybe that scene will show up in the finished movie. We only saw about 10 seconds of the credits before they shut them off, but what I saw was Pauline Baynes's illustrations animated over Carrie Underwood's song, so I don't think that scene will go there, but who knows?
Anyway, final verdict - the stuff I didn't like was outweighed by the stuff I loved. My main complaint is that I wish it was longer. I loved this book the best and would loved to have spent more time in this world and on this voyage with these characters. But it was great to have one last movie with Lucy and Edmund, and to meet Eustace and see him change, and to see Caspian as King. Again, Ben Barnes' and Will Poulter's performances were real high points. And I hope the movie does well, because I'm looking forward to my next favorite, The Silver Chair onscreen too, and seeing Eustace again.
As we were leaving the theater, my nephew said, "We're still going to see it again when it comes out for real in 3-D, right?" And we are. I'm definitely going to see it again in the theater, and I figure any Narnia fan will see it more than once. It was a fun actiony fantasy movie, and one kids will love.
First, it was beautifully shot. Every scene in the movie just looked lovely. The scene in the lilies just made me tear up, because it looked exactly like I always thought it would. The Magician's Island was not what I had pictured, but it looked very cool, and I thought the dragon's hoard on Dragon's Island was perfect.
Second, it was way too short, for the amount of story they tried to cram into it. I especially missed the time spent in the Last Sea, on the way to Aslan's Country. That was my favorite part of the book, and the movie just rushed through it. They left out a few key parts too - the albatross leading them out of the Dark Island, and Reepicheep going on to Aslan's Country also being a sacrifice. I found this particularly ironic, since I was at a screening for pastors and other religious folks (I know, I'm surprised the theater didn't burst into flames when I sat down *g*), where the president of Walden Media went on and on about how C.S. Lewis felt this was the most spiritual of all the books (I agree), and they thought they did a good job with it, yet... they botched the scene with the albatross, and Reep's sacrifice, and the numinous experience of the Last Sea. It was really pretty odd because he was patting himself on the back over it.
Third, changes from the book to the movie? Plenty. Honestly, it was almost like they pasted a whole 'nother plot on top of the existing story. I mean, pretty much everything you remember from the book was in there, but it was used in a different way than it was in the book. I didn't like the scene on the Lone Islands very much - again way too rushed and way too different in a way that didn't make sense. Like, the whole island is hiding from the Green Mist, but there's still a thriving slave trade? How does that work?
Edmund's conflict with his jealousy of Caspian and Peter didn't work, considering what we already know of his character. It just didn't make sense, especially after Prince Caspian. Lucy's conflict with her desire to be beautiful, and her envy of Susan, actually worked for me - I liked how it played out, and how it didn't consume her for the entire movie. I thought Caspian's longing for family was a nice touch, but again, could have been so much more if only the movie was longer.
Speaking of Caspian, Ben Barnes was excellent. He really shone every moment he was on screen (and I didn't miss the Spanish accent at all :D). Also excellent was Will Poulter as Eustace. I brought my nephew with me and he LOVED Eustace - thought he was funny, and really loved his transformation arc. The dragon CGI was fantastic, as was the CGI for Reepicheep. And Eustace and Reepicheep's relationship was extremely well-done - I loved the scenes were Reep was riding on Eustace-as-dragon. Also very good in every scene he was in was Gary Sweet as Drinian, another favorite of my nephew.
I liked the character of Liliandil, formerly just known as Ramandu's Daughter. She was a nice addition. I didn't mind the plot of the Seven Swords - I get the reason behind it, giving the movie a more cohesive plot and a reason for action, but god, the Green Mist was stupid, as was the sacrificing people to it. I get the creeping evil, but ugh. Also, the little girl on the Dawn Treader - I got it, she was there because the Green Mist took her mother, but it didn't really work. Again, maybe if the movie was longer and we had more time to spend on her character, it might have been better. The little glimpses of her character interacting with Lucy weren't bad.
For all that Tilda Swinton supposedly only did 20 minutes of shooting for her scenes, they sure used her a lot. Over and over, with Edmund looking like a dear in the headlights, each time. Way overdone. Once, in the Dark Island scene, would have been enough, and driven home the point of the Dark Island. Although I had a problem with Edmund's desire to be his own king, and out from Peter and Caspian's shadow, because that makes no sense with what we already know about his character, the part with Jadis being his worst fear, and tempting him, did make sense. It was just way overused in a short movie.
I loved the scenes on Dragon Island, and Eustace's transformation, as I mentioned before. I thought that Skandar Keynes did his best work as Edmund in those scenes where he was worried about Eustace. I liked how Skandar and Ben Barnes played the Edmund and Caspian relationship (and Ed/Caspian shippers are going to LOVE it), as good friends and brothers.
Sadly, the Lucian shippers will be disappointed, but I really think it would have been too skeevy to play up Lucy's little flirtation there, especially with the age difference between Barnes and Georgie Henley. As I said before, I did like Lucy's temptation, and I liked the dream sequence a lot, and her seeing Aslan.
The fight with the sea serpent was exciting, but, again, green mist was the green mist of stupidity. I did love the end, with them finally arriving at Aslan's Country. Not gonna lie, I was crying when Eustace said goodbye to Reepicheep, and Reepicheep paddling off in his coracle (yay!) to the top of the wave (more yay! just like I always pictured it!). Again, didn't quite understand how Walden, so big on talking about the Christianity of this movie, left out the lamb turning into Aslan. And I didn't understand Aslan giving them a choice about going on to his country and Edmund's reasons for turning it down - neither worked for me.
I loved both the beginning and end framing scenes in Oxford, very well done on all of them, especially the transitions to and from Narnia. Peter and Susan do appear in the movie, and that was nice, seeing them both, especially Susan in the beginning. But that scene from the first trailer, with all four Pevensies striding purposefully towards the camera, was NOT in the movie at all. To be fair, we were told the movie was still a work in progress and not all the CGI was finished (some scenes did feel less polished), so maybe that scene will show up in the finished movie. We only saw about 10 seconds of the credits before they shut them off, but what I saw was Pauline Baynes's illustrations animated over Carrie Underwood's song, so I don't think that scene will go there, but who knows?
Anyway, final verdict - the stuff I didn't like was outweighed by the stuff I loved. My main complaint is that I wish it was longer. I loved this book the best and would loved to have spent more time in this world and on this voyage with these characters. But it was great to have one last movie with Lucy and Edmund, and to meet Eustace and see him change, and to see Caspian as King. Again, Ben Barnes' and Will Poulter's performances were real high points. And I hope the movie does well, because I'm looking forward to my next favorite, The Silver Chair onscreen too, and seeing Eustace again.
As we were leaving the theater, my nephew said, "We're still going to see it again when it comes out for real in 3-D, right?" And we are. I'm definitely going to see it again in the theater, and I figure any Narnia fan will see it more than once. It was a fun actiony fantasy movie, and one kids will love.
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I...I'm really, really going to hell, aren't I.
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Ben Barnes is my favorite and not jailbait at ALL. Happy belated, btw.
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At least I have comfort in the fact that all of the Potter boys were officially of age when making this film.
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(Anonymous) 2010-11-23 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)I wasn't looking forward to the movie much, based on the super lame advertising that's out there, but now I'm looking forward to it more. This gives me hope that it doesn't 100% suck. :D
Thanks for the movie review! XOXO
-TastyAsItGets
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I was okay with Caspian bringing Peter's sword, especially since they went over the movie canon that Peter gave it to him, but there was no reason to have Susan's or Lucy's gifts on the DT, so that annoyed me. Well, Lucy's because it was book canon, but it's also book canon that he left Susan's horn in Narnia, so... I was irked.
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I'd say the percentage of good to suck was about 70/30 for me. It was just that the parts that did suck, sucked HARD. But there were still some really good bits in there too.
You're welcome!
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Of course, all we are going to be getting from fandom is Lucy and Edmund both pining for Caspian, who is pining for Susan, with them all getting pissed once Caspian falls for the wise woman guide who takes the form of Susan....
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I like your fanwank for Liliandil! I think we'll get those for Edmund and Lucy as well, to make sense of their behavior. :D
I didn't read Caspian as pining for Susan at all, but of course I'm invested in another ship. ;) But I took that line as sort of a replacement for the "squints and has freckles" from the book - kind of an off-the-cuff remark, not really holding much beyond that he thought Susan was really pretty. And that the importance of the line was more for Lucy's story than for Caspian's.
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On the whole, I'm good with the movie. I'll probably be better after seeing it again - more time to fanwank things. ;) It was not as good as I hoped, but better than I expected.
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Also, for all that Lucian wasn't happening, there was a lot of Edmund/Caspian.
I really really loved Eustace, but I wasn't a big fan of his undragoning--idk, somehow that one moment didn't really do it for me. But other than that he was PERFECT and if this movie does well and they do Silver Chair I am looking forward to seeing more of him.