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Item published by latency on 12th January. 0 Comments.

My first reaction when I heard ‘Disney’ and ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ in the same sentence was “Oh no, another one of my child hood books is about to be destroyed”. I’m slightly biased on this because I’m of the opinion that the screen writer of Disney’s The Sword In The Stone read no more than two chapters of the book, cumulatively speaking. But, with the second and fourth book (chronologically) done and dusted, I have to admit that they actually went and did a pretty good job, excellent casting, excellent direction, and reasonable screenplay- as such, I’m actually looking forward to the third movie and fifth book, Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.
For those not familiar with the books, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are on a visit to see their odious cousin Eustace (Will Poulter), when for the third time, they are drawn into the world of Narnia. Pulled aboard Narnia’s brand new flag ship, The Dawn Treader, they are reunited with the now King of Narnia, Caspian. Seeking to re-connect with forgotten satellites of the Narnian Kingdom, to seek out undiscovered lands, and to discover the fate of old the Narnian aristocracy, they embark upon a very epic voyage that will take them to the edge of the world.

As with the first two movies, there’s a lot to live up to, since the major TV adaptations of The Chronicles Of Narnia made by the BBC in the late eighties included Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, and have been seen by anyone from my generation or older who’s a fan of the books.
But there’s a few significant changes afoot, namely that 20th Century Fox are heading up this movie, not Disney, and Michael Apted is going to direct. This has come about after disputes over budgets and sets, both of which have been argued endlessly by the powers that be.
Walden Media are still shooting, and there’s a few familiar names on the screenwriter’s list, including Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who were both screenwriters on the previous two movies. Thankfully, the same cast are all in as well, including Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley as Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, Ben Barnes as Caspian, and Liam Neeson continuing his blissfully non-stereotypical Aslan.
Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) strikes me as a somewhat unusual decision for director, since the majority of his recent work has been in TV or unrelated films- but certainly he’s got a lot of work under his belt. I don’t like it when the director is changed mid-way through a series of films, it generates inconsistency in the feel of the characters, but with a concise cast and crew, I think Michael will do just fine.
I’m also fairly optimistic about the afore mentioned screen writers, they’ve delivered a satisfactory level of accuracy so far, with only a few deviations which can be forgiven. Prince Caspian suffered a somewhat wayward feature scene of the castle-attack which didn’t impress me, but the book itself lacked large amounts of entertaining ammunition. Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is packed with a lot fuel for a good movie, so I see no reason for any major changes, although I expect more than a few scenes will get axed, as is the case in any film adaptation. The book is one of the best of The Chronicles of Narnia, so sit back, because this film should be a real voyage of adventure.

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