The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Unfortunately, the excitement of the ocean landscapes upon which The Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes place lasts about five minutes. After that you realize that even the seas of Narnia are just giant ponds of water. With this third film in the Narnia series, it’s clear the filmmakers struggled to keep the magic of Narnia’s once-alluring fantasy world alive. With so many forced location detours and subplots, both the film’s unity and clarity of plot get lost at sea. The youngest Pevensie siblings, Edmund and Lucy (Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley), are transported back to Narnia to join forces with their old friend, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes). Together, they must travel across the seas to save the Seven Lost Lords of Narnia to restore safety. After that, the story line gets a little hazy. To be fair, with likeable children playing the heroic leads, and decent special effects to complement the frequent magical-action sequences, the young target audience might find more entertainment in those two hours than I did. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG