The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Movie Review

Can anyone tell me what The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is about? Emily's the Chronicles of Narnia fan and so we saw this with her; she, of course, loved it, and can't understand why anyone is having a problem following along. I guess because it's been a few years since the last installment, I've lost the thread of the narrative. Heck, I'd lost that with the first installment. All of these fantasy epics blend into one - our heroes are sent on a quest against unstoppable forces and must rise above it all and learn important, life altering lessons. (Which, I guess, is the plot of all stories, isn't it?) I was no fan of The Lord of the Rings until the LOTR movies came out and though I'm a fan of the series now, it's the series as depicted on the screen; I find the books slow and plodding. No, LOTR filled my fantasy quotient nicely, thank you, no need for more. Okay, Harry Potter. I'll go with Harry Potter. Chronicles of Narnia? A fantasy too far.

Still, there's much to like about this movie. Though it's in 3D - boy, will I be glad when that fad is over! - the visuals are quite arresting and represent, once again, the state-of-the-art of what Hollywood is capable of producing. If you can imagine it, they can put it on the screen. The acting is fine, the kids engaging, though I find the little mouse character to be annoying. Technically, a good a movie as can be produced but I just had no idea who was who and why they were doing what they were doing. Emily and the audience knew so clearly the problem lies with me.

The important this is that we got to see it with Emily; Rachel tagged along, too, and that's a rare thing, so I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.