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rainwatersparkSaw the film today, after an entire break of wanting to see it but not being able to.
I liked it. :) I was hoping that Dawn Treader would be better than Prince Caspian was, and I wasn't disappointed. Dawn Treader brought back the sense of wonder in the first film that was missing in the second, and it was also more lighthearted than Prince Caspian. Edmund and Lucy were pretty awesome (after watching Prince Caspian, I hated Peter and Susan--sorry guys). So was Caspian, which was nice, since he was treated like The Scrappy in the previous movie. I did find it funny, though, that he dropped the Spanish accent. XD
When I was watching Prince Caspian, I remembered what had happened in the book, so I was constantly comparing what happened in the film to the book ("What? There's an extra invasion scene here? What? Caspian's being treated like dirt?!"). That wasn't the case with Dawn Treader, because I more or less completely forgot what happened in the book, so I couldn't comment on whether it was more violent than the original. I did think, without comparing it to the book, that it wasn't as unnecessarily violent and dark as Prince Caspian was.
I was also interested in the moral aspect of the movie. I'm pretty sure (though not 100% certain) that Lucy and Edmund (& Caspian, to a lesser degree) weren't battling against their temptations in the book, but the addition of that to the film added much more character depth and empathy. (The inclusion of a semi-explicit reference to Christianity at the end was also pretty interesting.) I do have a feeling, though, that the star (whose name I forgot...) and her father had a larger role in the book than they do in the film (heck, the star girl's father doesn't even appear).
One thing I'm a little iffy about is the fact that Eustace is kind of treated as the emotional center of the story, given that we hear excerpts narrated from his diary and stuff. While those excerpts were pretty hilarious and gave us a window into his mind, I thought the movie seemed a little bit stretched when it came to character focus. It tried to focus on Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace all at once; in the end, I felt that a tiny bit more could have been done with Edmund (or maybe I'm just bitter because Edmund is my favorite character, but he never really gets the spotlight after the first film. Heheh).
So, yeah, my faith in the Narnia film franchise has been restored with Dawn Treader. Also, the credits song, "There's a Place For Us," is amazing. :)
Edit: After Wiki'ing the plot of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (novel), I think I actually like the movie better.
For example, Eustace spends longer as a dragon in the movie, which gives him more of a reason to become a nicer person. Also, in the movie, Caspian gets to go with Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep to world's end, instead of being left behind. The movie also makes it seem that Reepicheep has more free will than in the book--instead of "having" to go to Aslan's Country, he does so because he wants to. Apparently the movie is all around more exciting than the book, what with the fight with the slave traders and the sea serpent and stuff, without being as over-the-top violent as Prince Caspian kind of was.
And there is a lot more characterization with Caspian and the Pevensies, thanks to the temptation theme. More characterization in the movie = awesome (and not all that fighting/finger-pointing in Prince Caspian, either).
Apparently the reference to Christianity was in the original book. Interesting. The ending of this story really was quite bittersweet. I really do hope they continue the film franchise for the rest of the books. Well, as long as they don't revert to Prince Caspian-bad ever again.
I liked it. :) I was hoping that Dawn Treader would be better than Prince Caspian was, and I wasn't disappointed. Dawn Treader brought back the sense of wonder in the first film that was missing in the second, and it was also more lighthearted than Prince Caspian. Edmund and Lucy were pretty awesome (after watching Prince Caspian, I hated Peter and Susan--sorry guys). So was Caspian, which was nice, since he was treated like The Scrappy in the previous movie. I did find it funny, though, that he dropped the Spanish accent. XD
When I was watching Prince Caspian, I remembered what had happened in the book, so I was constantly comparing what happened in the film to the book ("What? There's an extra invasion scene here? What? Caspian's being treated like dirt?!"). That wasn't the case with Dawn Treader, because I more or less completely forgot what happened in the book, so I couldn't comment on whether it was more violent than the original. I did think, without comparing it to the book, that it wasn't as unnecessarily violent and dark as Prince Caspian was.
I was also interested in the moral aspect of the movie. I'm pretty sure (though not 100% certain) that Lucy and Edmund (& Caspian, to a lesser degree) weren't battling against their temptations in the book, but the addition of that to the film added much more character depth and empathy. (The inclusion of a semi-explicit reference to Christianity at the end was also pretty interesting.) I do have a feeling, though, that the star (whose name I forgot...) and her father had a larger role in the book than they do in the film (heck, the star girl's father doesn't even appear).
One thing I'm a little iffy about is the fact that Eustace is kind of treated as the emotional center of the story, given that we hear excerpts narrated from his diary and stuff. While those excerpts were pretty hilarious and gave us a window into his mind, I thought the movie seemed a little bit stretched when it came to character focus. It tried to focus on Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace all at once; in the end, I felt that a tiny bit more could have been done with Edmund (or maybe I'm just bitter because Edmund is my favorite character, but he never really gets the spotlight after the first film. Heheh).
So, yeah, my faith in the Narnia film franchise has been restored with Dawn Treader. Also, the credits song, "There's a Place For Us," is amazing. :)
Edit: After Wiki'ing the plot of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (novel), I think I actually like the movie better.
For example, Eustace spends longer as a dragon in the movie, which gives him more of a reason to become a nicer person. Also, in the movie, Caspian gets to go with Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep to world's end, instead of being left behind. The movie also makes it seem that Reepicheep has more free will than in the book--instead of "having" to go to Aslan's Country, he does so because he wants to. Apparently the movie is all around more exciting than the book, what with the fight with the slave traders and the sea serpent and stuff, without being as over-the-top violent as Prince Caspian kind of was.
And there is a lot more characterization with Caspian and the Pevensies, thanks to the temptation theme. More characterization in the movie = awesome (and not all that fighting/finger-pointing in Prince Caspian, either).
Apparently the reference to Christianity was in the original book. Interesting. The ending of this story really was quite bittersweet. I really do hope they continue the film franchise for the rest of the books. Well, as long as they don't revert to Prince Caspian-bad ever again.
