Narnia, I am disappoint
Got back from seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader and I wasn't terribly impressed. I mean, the movie wasn't terrible or anything, but it just... lacked the magic of the first two? I don't know. It just didn't capture me the way The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe did or make me want to immediately go re-watch it like Prince Caspian did.
My main problem with the movie is that they tried to re-hash a lot of stuff from the first two films and I think that's because they couldn't figure out to do with Edmund. I love Edmund angst more than anything in the world, but really. Do we have to revisit the White Witch plotline every movie? I think the stabby scene in PC showed he had overcome that particular hurdle in his life, and going back to it is just lazy writing.
I also didn't buy Edmund and Lucy's friendship with Caspian in this movie, possibly because the made him so antagonistic with Peter in the first film that them being automatic BFFs didn't really sit well with me. There weren't a lot of long moments with the three of them either - everything just felt very rushed rushed rushed.
That was another big problem I had. The pacing was just awful. I know they had to get to a bunch of different islands and do fun battles and stuff, but sometimes it was just painful and it led to some really fucking cheesy stuff. Narnia wasn't cheesy in the first two movies, but in this one, it definitely was. Especially with all the ~lessons~ everyone had to learn.
As a kid, Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite book. But going back and rereading it a few years made me realize that Christian symbolism is way more blatant in it than the other two. I could ignore a lot of the stuff in the first two movies because they've become common fantasy tropes and it fit in the Narnia universe without throwing me out of it. Plus they did it well enough that it wasn't OH HERE COMES THE JESUS ALLEGORY LION WITH YOUR LESSONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY FOR THE DAY like it did at the end of the movie this time. I don't have a problem with the symblogy when it's well. I just hate it when it throws me out of the movie.
But, ANYWAY, on to the things I liked.
- Lucy was awesome and got to fight with the boys! Could have done without the random girl they had her mentor because that got annoying, but otherwise, Lucy was awesomesauce.
- Caspian dropped his ridiculous accent from the second movie! While confusing, this was a definite plus because I hated that accent so much.
- Battle scenes = A+
- EUSTACE.
Eustace is my favorite character in series. I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M ATTRACTED TO THE ASSHOLE CHARACTERS WHO NEED TO BE REDEEMED, REALLY, BUT EUSTACE. I loved him SO MUCH. They had the perfect actor to play him and his characterization was down pat. His whiny journal entries had me ROLLING BECAUSE IT IS SUCH A EUSTACE THING TO DO. God, he was so perfect. ♥ forever for Eustace. The movie slowed down quite a bit after he got dragonized because they kept him that way for a good chunk of the time, but otherwise HE WAS SO GREAT.
And asdkajsldjasklaj JILL POLE WAS MENTIONED AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. YES, I MIGHT HAVE SEAL CLAPPED IN THE THEATRE I WAS SO EXCITED.
Also, can I mention how much I absolutely loathe 3D movies? STOP MAKING MOVIES IN 3D IF THEY DON'T NEED TO BE. Narnia in 3D is absolutely fucking pointless just like Tangled was.
My main problem with the movie is that they tried to re-hash a lot of stuff from the first two films and I think that's because they couldn't figure out to do with Edmund. I love Edmund angst more than anything in the world, but really. Do we have to revisit the White Witch plotline every movie? I think the stabby scene in PC showed he had overcome that particular hurdle in his life, and going back to it is just lazy writing.
I also didn't buy Edmund and Lucy's friendship with Caspian in this movie, possibly because the made him so antagonistic with Peter in the first film that them being automatic BFFs didn't really sit well with me. There weren't a lot of long moments with the three of them either - everything just felt very rushed rushed rushed.
That was another big problem I had. The pacing was just awful. I know they had to get to a bunch of different islands and do fun battles and stuff, but sometimes it was just painful and it led to some really fucking cheesy stuff. Narnia wasn't cheesy in the first two movies, but in this one, it definitely was. Especially with all the ~lessons~ everyone had to learn.
As a kid, Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite book. But going back and rereading it a few years made me realize that Christian symbolism is way more blatant in it than the other two. I could ignore a lot of the stuff in the first two movies because they've become common fantasy tropes and it fit in the Narnia universe without throwing me out of it. Plus they did it well enough that it wasn't OH HERE COMES THE JESUS ALLEGORY LION WITH YOUR LESSONS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY FOR THE DAY like it did at the end of the movie this time. I don't have a problem with the symblogy when it's well. I just hate it when it throws me out of the movie.
But, ANYWAY, on to the things I liked.
- Lucy was awesome and got to fight with the boys! Could have done without the random girl they had her mentor because that got annoying, but otherwise, Lucy was awesomesauce.
- Caspian dropped his ridiculous accent from the second movie! While confusing, this was a definite plus because I hated that accent so much.
- Battle scenes = A+
- EUSTACE.
Eustace is my favorite character in series. I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M ATTRACTED TO THE ASSHOLE CHARACTERS WHO NEED TO BE REDEEMED, REALLY, BUT EUSTACE. I loved him SO MUCH. They had the perfect actor to play him and his characterization was down pat. His whiny journal entries had me ROLLING BECAUSE IT IS SUCH A EUSTACE THING TO DO. God, he was so perfect. ♥ forever for Eustace. The movie slowed down quite a bit after he got dragonized because they kept him that way for a good chunk of the time, but otherwise HE WAS SO GREAT.
And asdkajsldjasklaj JILL POLE WAS MENTIONED AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. YES, I MIGHT HAVE SEAL CLAPPED IN THE THEATRE I WAS SO EXCITED.
Also, can I mention how much I absolutely loathe 3D movies? STOP MAKING MOVIES IN 3D IF THEY DON'T NEED TO BE. Narnia in 3D is absolutely fucking pointless just like Tangled was.