Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their cousin Eustace, are swallowed into a painting and transported back to Narnia and the magnificent ship The Dawn Treader. They join King Caspian and a warrior mouse named Reepicheep for a mission which holds the fate of Narnia itself. The courageous voyagers overcome their own greatest temptations, as they travel to mysterious islands; have fateful confrontations with magical creatures and sinister enemies; and reunite with their friend and protector, the "Great Lion"

The third installment of the Narnia series felt the weakest to me and the most vanilla of the series so far. It almost seems as if they took a hohum approach to the film as if saying I guess we are making another Narnia movie lets see how fast we can get it done. Gone is any sense of wonder or childlike glee at the magical world of Narnia and all that is left to us is a film that just moves from one plot point to the next plot point just trying its best to make sure it gets enough of the book in. I am not sure if this in hopes of another film or just so they can get this one done both being a complete shameful reason to make a movie. The movie had a very vanilla feel to it and was just ok at best and boring and its worst.

The shame is that Voyage of the Dawn Treader might be C.S. Lewis best book of the Narnia series and it was easily my favorite growing up reading the books. It was full of fancy and wonder from dragons, to sea serpents to a quest of the unknown. Gone is all that wonder in the movie though as they follow the plot of the book like they were painting one of those beginner paint by number scenes of waterfalls or sunsets. Never bothering to breathe in the beauty of Narnia or stopping to realize that the books spoke to the child in all of use that saw fanciful lands and adventures behind the most common things and dreamed of finding these lands in a wardrobe or by following through a painting to be emerged in them. The film captures the books plot but never its spirit and that is where it fails.

If the film does one thing right it does capture the character of Eustace who was a sniveling little spoiled brat that you loved to hate in the books. But through his adventures and his trials as a dragon he learns humility and friendship and while you still dislike him you lose your hatred for him though. He takes over the role of the despicable cad that was held by Edmund in the first film. He is the one character in the film that does not feel like a paint by numbers character and the one positive about the movie because he is able to make you feel something for a movie that rarely makes you feel something. Whether it is to despite him or feel empathy for him you are at least feeling something.

Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes return as Lucy and Edmund respectively as the roles of Peter and Susan were written out of the story by Lewis. And they add nothing to their characters from the first two films as they easily give their most bland performances of the series. Ben Barnes returns as Caspian and while he gives a slightly better performance than Henley and Keynes that is not saying much. The film falls flat and while it is an ok film it is quite the disappointment and letdown.

Grade: C