Simon Dillon reviews the film

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader had a troubled production history. After Disney backed out of financing it in light of poor returns on Prince Caspian (stupidly released the week after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Twentieth Century Fox stepped into the breach, as did new director Michael Apted. The result has been nervously awaited by Narnia fans, given Fox's notorious reputation for creative interference.

The good news is that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is, for the most part, a satisfying adventure spectacle with the integrity of CS Lewis allegories left intact. This is the one where Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) are recalled to Narnia, along with their annoying cousin Eustace (Will Poulter), to once again meet up with their old friend King Caspian (Ben Barnes). They arrive on board the Dawn Treader, a Narnian vessel that has gone in search of seven exiled Narnian Lords who were loyal to Caspian's father. But after they arrive at the Lone Islands and find the first of the seven (whilst at the same time putting some slave traders out of business), they discover a mysterious darkness is menacing the seas, swallowing up ships and people. The remaining six Lords sailed east towards the darkness to find a way to stop it, but have not been heard of since.

By now those familiar with the novel will have realised from my synopsis that there have been changes from the book. But whatever purists may claim, these changes work well. Michael Apted rightly realised that first and foremost he needed to make a good film that was true to the spirit of what Lewis was saying, without necessarily being slavishly faithful to the minutiae of plot events (a lesson I wish the makers of the Harry Potter films would learn). Dawn Treader is the most episodic in the Narnia saga, and whilst it makes a diverting read, a straight adaptation would not have been satisfying. Almost all the incidents contained within the novel are present, but not necessarily in the same order. The encroaching darkness and what needs to be done to stop it provides a unifying thread that makes the quest for the missing Narnian Lords much more urgent, and therefore much more cinematic.

There are some weak links. For instance, Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes have become rather too self conscious, though they are not terrible. Also, for some inexplicable reason Ben Barnes no longer plays Caspian with a Spanish accent, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing. But none of that really matters. The direction is solid, the special effects good and there is a fine new music score from David Arnold (taking over from Harry Gregson Williams, whose Narnia theme from the first two is only heard once). Returning to the cast for a moment, the excellent Will Poulter (Lee Carter in Son of Rambow) steals every scene he is in and is by far the best actor in the entire saga to date. He manages to take what is essentially a whiny brat and inject him with genuine complexity and pathos. His character arc is the most interesting, and its great to know he will be back for The Silver Chair (box office returns permitting).

As I mentioned before, the symbolism and strong Christian worldview of CS Lewis is keenly felt throughout. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's themes of courage, faith, overcoming temptation, maturing into adulthood, the afterlife and so forth are all present for those who wish to see them. I was particularly pleased to see the allusion to Aslan's true identity was not cut out ("In your world, I have another name." etc). This crucial scene is played well by all (including Liam Neeson voicing Aslan), and is actually quite moving.

In short, this is a colourful, entertaining film that will please audiences of all ages. It's not destined to be a classic, but it is certainly up to the standard of the previous two adaptations, and one or two scenes really are outstanding - particularly the opening with the painting that comes to life, and the Dark Island/Sea Serpent finale. You may find small children get a bit scared in the latter sequence, even though my six year old insisted it wasn't scary at all. But I wouldn't take his word for it if you have sensitive offspring.