The Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Review (4.5/5)

Last time The Chronicles of Narnia hit our screens, fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths as Prince Caspian spent two hours indulging in long battles and repetitive quests to find Aslan. Two years later, we get The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, an altogether more well-rounded tale that unlike its predecessors wastes no time in getting the Pensieve children back to Narnia for another fantasy adventure. Will Poulter joins the cast as cousin Eustace Scrubb after his enjoyable debut earlier this year in Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang, starting out as the same, spoilt brat Poulter seems to portray so effortlessly (wink wink, nudge nudge) and in much the same vein turning out to be a strong, likeable kid who could easily lead the franchise now given that it seems the Pensieves might depart before the next instalment. Aslan, Peter and Susan are reduced to mere cameos for the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, yet the cast- now including Ben Barnes on much better form as Caspian and Simon Pegg in a surprisingly deeper role than many of his other human characters- manage to compensate for the losses exceedingly. Above it all, though, is a finer, intricately layered plot by C.S Lewis of temptation, religion and most importantly growing-up, a transition often left untouched by kids' films, but one that is used for the better here. I could go on about the great 3-D effects, the much improved CGI and Aslan turning out to be some sort of God (just you wait...), but all you need to know is that Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a brilliant diversion from past entries, and despite feeling occasionally episodic instead of a fully-fledged movie, it's the best entry yet and a great fantasy romp to close 2010!