This is the note I posted on Facebook concerning The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Just posting it here for posterity. ;)
Today I went to see the latest movie of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Voyage is the 3rd movie in the series, based on the 3rd book in the series, 5th chronologically. I have been following the progress of this film since Prince Caspian came out and I realized that unless a miracle occurred, these films were going to get progressively worse. To start my review, let me just say that the changes to Prince Caspian were understandable and the changes to LWW were incredibly minor compared to the changes that have been made to Voyage. Let me also say, I have heard every argument as to why the changes "had" to be made in order to make the book into a decent movie. I've even heard Douglas Gresham tell fans that when they see it 120 times it will make perfect sense. I love Narnia. Voyage is one of my very favorite books. I have no intention of seeing this movie 120 times in my lifetime.
Some of the reasons for the changes:
No flesh-and-blood villain. So they added this green mist and made Dark Island more sinister. Result? Still no flesh-and-blood villiian, the White Witch seems more powerful after death than she is in reality (dead and not powerful at all), most people will have no idea what the green mist signifies anyway unless they are told, and everyone thinks that this is some kind of forshadowing for the Lady of the Green Kirtle, especially those out there who think she and the WW are one and the same. They're not. They're just both evil witches who use their looks to snare little princes. End of connection.
No danger, hence no clear reason for Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace to be there. Result: this additional back-story of the 7 swords given by Aslan to protect Narnia. What?! This supposedly happened in the Golden Age, but E and L seem to have no memory of it. And why would Caspian's father entrust the swords to his 7 lords when Telmarines didn't believe in Aslan to begin with? Yeah. Writers, your backstory needs help. Lewis says in the book that Caspian would never have left Narnia if it was in any way in danger. And there's some kind of green evil mist trying to take over the world? Right.
Traveling from island to island is boring and it won't make a good movie. Hmm. Let's compare.
Book: Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace end up in Narnia on board the Dawn Treader.
Movie: This part was just about right. I'd have to be very particular, which I'm really not, to find fault with it. As soon as you meet Eustace you know he's the most perfect Eustace you could have asked for. As Jeremy put it at the beginning "I already hate him". I truly have no issue with the movie until they reach the first island.
Book: They reach the Lone Islands where they are abducted by pirates. Caspian is sold to this rich guy and the rest go to thr auction block. The rich guy ends up being one of the lords and helps Caspian free his friends and re-take the Lone Islands in a fabulous display of might and glory. Gov. Gumpas provides the humor.
Movie: The Lone IslandS, Plural. In the movie I only see one. An incredibly run-down and creepy place where slavers tryrannize the townsfolk and send boatloads of them to the green mist as a sacrifice and sell the others to Calormen. No glorious display of Caspian's rule. No tricking Governor Gumpas into thinking he had tons more ships and was here to forcibly re-take the islands. Lord Bern is a decrepit old man in the dungeons, not a rich lord who lives there because he fell in love with a local girl and decided to sail no more. Drinian and the crew had to come on land and rescue Caspian and everyone else because Bern was more helpless than they were. And no Gov. Gumpas. I sincerely missed his Sufficiency. He amused me.
Oh and I'll deal with the addition of Gael and her father later.
Book: On returning to ship they get in a really bad storm and end up on an island where Eustace gets turned into a dragon, they find their second lord, and Eustace meets Aslan.
Movie: The next island is the Island of Voices which gets the gist of it right, but in a completely weird way. If you're going to tell the same story, why change it? Just making more work for yourselves re-writing the book. My main issue with this part--besides the ridiculous scenery--is Coriakin. He seems to know everything with that crazy map of his. In the book he creates maps for them based on what they've seen SO FAR. Here he pretty much just tells us what all is going to happen next. This is the problem, this is the solution, here's your destination, go for it. So why hasn't someone else done it long ago if it's so simple? I prefer the book Coriakin mending their ship (the tail of the dragon), laughing at the Dufflepuds, and saying bon voyage but I have no idea where you're going or what you'll find. Have a good trip. Much more scope for the imagination that way.
Book: Next is the sea serpent where Eustace tries to show valour and helps defeat the serpent. Then they reach the island where the water turns things to gold. Edmund and Caspian get in a fight. Lucy sees Aslan. Next island (whiich does NOT look like something from Alice in Wonderland meets Willy Wonka), Lucy reads the Book of Spells, deals with the temptation of looking like Susan, meets the Dufflepuds, etc.
Movie: They combined Dragon Island and Goldwater Island, which does make sense since they both have gold and it does speed things up a little. So my only problem here is Eustace staying a dragon. And the whole bit about the Blue Star. And Eustace the dragon being able to fly the whole way to the island, which Lewis says in the book wasn't an option because even dragons have to rest somewhere sometimes.
But let me tell you what I DID like so far:
Reepicheep. Sheer perfection. His interactions with Eustace bring the book to life. Love it. And what he tells Eustace the dragon that night...A great nod to the book readers to know what a hero Eustace will become in SC and TLB. I loved his line about his tail. "Aslan gave me this tail. No one touches the tail. No one." (paraphrased)
Eustace. Everything from his diary, to his lines, to his facial expressions. Perfect casting there.
Edmund and Lucy. Always my favorites.
Caspian. I like him much more in this one than in PC. I didn't want to smack him at all in this one. No stupid crushes. No silly lines. Definitely not a childish. Much improved.
Eustace the dragon. Good job movie people. You can make a good dragon.
The Dawn Treader herself. PERFECTION. It's like the book on screen. Beautiful.
Dufflepuds. They sounded right, they acted right, they looked right. They were just on a weird island with a guy impersonating Coriakin. ;)
OK, back to the review. From here till almost the end I was simply lost, watching a movie that reminded me of Voyage because I knew it was supposed to be Voyage, but it wasn't.
Let's review. Three of the seven lords are accounted for: Bern, Octesian, and Restimar. They have 3 of the 7 swords. Eustace is still a dragon. Coriakin told them to sail to Ramandu's Island to lay the 7 swords on Aslan's Table to stop the green mist and free the people trapped at Dark Island. Here's a good place to mention the addition of Rhince and Gael. Now book readers will recognize the name Rhince since he's actually a character in the book. Though in the book he's Narnian and part of the ship's crew from the start. In the movie he's a citizen of the Lone Islands whose wife is taken as part of the "sacrifice" to the green mist. So she's ended up on Dark Island, so we assume, and he's joined the ship's company. Their daughter Gael stowed away on board, so she's there too hoping to find her mother. This gives an additional reason to finish the quest and also gives Lucy a chance to be all motherly/big sistery. Lucy has ripped out a page of the Magician's Book and apparently hasn't resolved her need to look like Susan until a talk with Aslan finally puts her to rights. Yes, the morals of the book are all there in the movie in plain sight, but my thought here is that Lewis didn't write like that. His books all had a moral or several, but they were woven through a good story without the need to spell it out in specific lines. I felt this movie had too many of those specific lines as if we had to be told that there was a lesson to be learned and we're going to make sure you learn it.
So some how Eustace, still a dragon, is able to fly alongside and later PULL the Dawn Treader to Ramandu's Island. Pretty strong dragon. When they get there they find 3 more lords at Aslan's Table. I won't go into this part because it's book-accurate mostly. I only have ONE problem. Two if you count this ridiculous green mist and the fact you can see Dark Island from Ramandu's. My one problem is this: there's no Ramandu on Ramandu's Island. Instead there's a girl who we book readers know is Ramandu's daughter, but in the movie she's a blue star who welcomes them and says "I've been your guide" and then proceeds to tell them what to do next. She's NOT a star. She's NOT supposed to glow like Claire Danes in Stardust. They're not SUPPOSED to have a guide, except maybe Aslan. And there's only talk of swords and dark magic islands, nothing about the lords grabbing up the knife which was not to be touched (just that conflict is not allowed at the table), fairy tale princesses who can be kissed to break the spell (in this story the spell needs to be broken so the princess can be kissed), or that the table is replenished each dawn after being eaten by the birds from the sun. As I mentioned, there's no Ramandu at all! :(
So then they go off to Dark Island and everything that hasn't happened yet happens (the Sea Serpent and the rescue of lord Rhoop, not to mention Eustace's chance at valour and his transformation back into being a boy), it just seems to take a lot longer.
I DO like that Caspian and Edmund aren't squabbling, that Caspian gives Edmund Peter's sword, the acting of lord Rhoop (perfect), and the albatross.
I didn't like that it didn't show the albatross to be Aslan with the words "Courage, dear heart". Lucy using Susan's bow and arrows was an interesting touch. I'm tired of the WW. Edmund was right. She's dead. At least in this one she was only in Edmund's imagination, but her presence frustrates me because it makes her seem more powerful than she is or should be.
Which is also a problem I have with the destruction of Dark Island. In the movie, they destroy it by putting all 7 swords on the Table. In the book, ASLAN destroys it because they (mainly Lucy) cry out to him for help.
Alrighty, time for the ending. I won't go into detail, but I liked the ending so I'm just going to say what was done right.
--Reepicheep going to Aslan's Country.
--The wave. Just like I pictured it.
--They DIRECTLY QUOTE the BOOK!!!!! (""There I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.")
--The lilies! :)
--Eustace's little blurb at the end about how his relationship with his cousins improved.
Parts that weren't quite right, but whatever:
--While Caspian did have a moment where he considered going to Aslan's Country, he never stood on ship and told them he wasn't going back. Also, no mention of Ramandu's daughter was made, which I found to be interesting considering she's supposed to marry Caspian.
--The children leave by traveling through a tunnel in the wall of water.. In the book, it's a hole in the sky.
Neither of these are that big of a deal compared to the rest of the movie's plot.
So there's my review. I give it 3 out of 5 stars because of the plot changes. While I'm excited about The Silver Chair being made into a movie, I am terrified of the changes that will be made to THAT. If a ship voyage to the Eastern Edge of the World isn't dramatic enough, what will they do with a walk on foot through the Western Wilds with 2 kids and a marshwiggle?
At least it can't end up like Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story. They made changes to the time period of Anne of GG and Anne of A, so by the time they made TCS there was nothing to be salvaged from the remaining 3 books and they had to start over with a completely new plot.
Finally, here's my prediction on the order the remaining books will be "adapted" into films:
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew (which technically can be made at the same time as HAHB since the only character in both is Aslan)
The Last Battle
They just need to make the next 3 quickly so Eustace and Jill aren't too grown up by the time TLB happens. Or they could FILM TLB but not RELEASE it until after the other 3. Wouldn't that be wild?
And that's my review. Feel free to leave comments. :)
