Psycho's Movie Reviews #169: Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (2010)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952), the third novel in C. S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia (and fifth in internal chronological order). It is the third and final instalment in the original Chronicles of Narnia film series, and the only film in the series to be released in Digital 3D. It is also the only film in the series not to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, which was replaced by 20th Century Fox. However, Disney would eventually own the rights to all the films in the series following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in 2019.

The film is set three Narnian years after the events of Prince Caspian. The two youngest Pevensie siblings, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley), are transported back to Narnia along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter). They join the new king of Narnia, Caspian (Ben Barnes), in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island. Each character is tested as they journey to the home of the great lion Aslan (Liam Neeson) at the far end of the world.

Development on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader began in 2007, while Prince Caspian was still in production. Filming was supposed to take place in Malta, Czech Republic and Iceland in 2008 with Michael Apted as its new director, for a planned release in 2009. But production was halted after a budgetary dispute between Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures concerning Prince Caspian's performance at the box office, resulting in Disney's departing the production and being replaced by 20th Century Fox under the Fox 2000 Pictures label. Filming later took place in Australia and New Zealand in 2009 and was converted into 3-D in 2010. It was released in traditional 2D, RealD 3D, and Digital 3D. The screenplay, which was based on the novel with same name by C. S. Lewis, was written by Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus.

The film premiered on November 30, 2010, at a Royal Film Performance in London and was released worldwide on December 10, 2010 and was commercially successful but met with mixed reviews praising the performances and visual effects but criticizing the script and pace. The film received moderate success in North America with a gross of $104 million, which was lower than its predecessors. However, it fared better than Prince Caspian internationally with $310 million. The film was the 12th-highest-grossing film of 2010 worldwide with nearly $415 million and received a nomination at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. It then became 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing film in 2010. The Magician's Nephew was to be the fourth entry to the series, but in the fall of 2011, Walden Media's contract with the C. S. Lewis estate expired.

Plot

Three Narnian years after the events of Prince Caspian, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are staying with their irritating, bookworm cousin Eustace Scrubb while their older siblings Peter and Susan are in America with their parents as the war still rages on. Edmund is still too young to enlist in His Majesty's Armed Forces, much to his chagrin. At their cousin's home a magical painting of a ship on the ocean transports Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace into an ocean in Narnia.

They are rescued by the Dawn Treader. Caspian invites them on a voyage to rescue the seven Lords of Narnia whom his uncle Miraz banished. In the Lone Islands, where people are sold as slaves, Caspian and Edmund are captured and imprisoned while Lucy and Eustace are sold as slaves. Caspian meets one of the lost lords, who reveals that the slaves who are not sold are sacrificed to a mysterious green mist. The crew of the Dawn Treader then rescues the four. The lord, who becomes the new governor, gives Caspian a sword, one of seven originally given to the lords by Aslan.

At another island, Lucy is abducted by invisible Dufflepuds who force her to enter the manor of the magician Coriakin to find a visibility spell. Coriakin encourages the crew to defeat the mist by gathering and laying the lords' seven swords at Aslan's Table on Ramandu's island, but warns they are all about to be tested. Lucy recites a beauty incantation she found, and enters a dream in which she is Susan, and neither Lucy nor Narnia exist. Aslan chides Lucy for her self-doubt, explaining that her siblings only know of Narnia because of her.

At a third island, another sword is recovered from a magical pool that turns anything that touches it (as it also did to one of the lost lords) into gold. Meanwhile, Eustace discovers and steals from a rock pit full of treasure. While Edmund and Caspian look for Eustace, they discover the remains of another of the lords and recover his sword. A dragon approaches and is driven away from the Dawn Treader. The dragon turns out to be Eustace, transformed by the enchanted treasure after succumbing to its temptations. Reepicheep befriends Eustace, and Eustace is touched by the mouse's kindness. He has a change of heart and becomes useful to the crew.

The crew arrives at Aslan's Table to find three lost lords sleeping. As they place the swords on the table they realize one is still missing. A star descends from the sky and transforms into Lilliandil, a beautiful woman who guides them to the Dark Island, a lair of the mist, where they discover the last surviving Lord. The island uses Edmund's fear to create a monstrous sea serpent that attacks the ship. Eustace fights the serpent, but the panicked lord wounds him with the last sword, causing him to fly away. He encounters Aslan, who transforms him back into a boy and sends him to Ramandu's island with the last sword. As the crew continues to fight the serpent, the mist tries to distract Edmund by appearing as Jadis, the White Witch. Eustace reaches the table, but the mist tries to stop him from putting the sword on the table with the others. Ultimately, he overcomes the mist and succeeds, allowing the swords to unleash their magic and bestow Edmund's own sword with the power to slay the sea serpent, the death of which awakens the three sleeping lords, destroys the mist and Dark Island, and liberates the sacrificed slaves.

Eustace rejoins Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, and Reepicheep, and they sail to a mysterious shore before a massive wave. Aslan appears and tells them that his country lies beyond, although if they go there they may never return. Caspian wishes to enter Aslan's country but he changes his mind, knowing that he has more duties to do as a king, but Reepicheep is determined to enter. Aslan blesses him and he bids farewell to Caspian, Edmund, Lucy and Eustace. When Eustace becomes emotional due to Reepicheep's departure and asks that he will not be seeing him again. Then Reepicheep answers him (Eustace) that he is a magnificent puzzle and a true hero. Reepicheep also says that it has been an honour for him to fight beside a brave warrior and a great friend. Finally, he bows before Eustace and he paddles beyond the wave for reaching Aslan's country. Aslan says to Lucy and Edmund that they cannot return to Narnia anymore as they have grown up like their elder siblings Peter and Susan. Aslan encourages them to know him in their world by another name. Aslan opens the portal to send them back to the world. Lucy, Edmund and Eustace bid farewell to Caspian. As the three walk to the portal, Eustace steps between them and asks Aslan whether he will be able to return. Aslan tells Eustace that he can. The three of them are transported back to the bedroom. Eustace hears his mother announcing a visitor, Jill Pole. Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace stare at the painting. Eustace picks up the painting from the floor and hangs it back on the wall. As they exit the bedroom, they look back at the painting and they see that the ship voyaging through the waves disappears slowly and Lucy closes the bedroom's door.

Production

Development

Michael Apted took over as the film's director from Andrew Adamson, who opted to produce, with Mark Johnson, Perry Moore, and Douglas Gresham. Steven Knight wrote the script following a draft by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Richard Taylor, Isis Mussenden, and Howard Berger continued their roles working on the production design and practical effects, while visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, composer David Arnold, and cinematographer Dante Spinotti are newcomers to the series. The film was officially budgeted at $140 million, although some estimates put the cost at $155 million.

When Apted signed on to direct The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in June 2007, filming was set to begin in January 2008 for a May 1, 2009 release date. Shooting would have begun in Malta, and then moved to Prague and Iceland. A few months later, Disney announced that "in consideration of the challenging schedules for its young actors", they were delaying the release date to May 7, 2010, and filming was moved to October 2008. Johnson rescheduled the shoot to Playas de Rosarito, Baja California (Mexico), where two thirds of the film would be shot at the water tank that was used for Titanic and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Filming was also scheduled for Australia. Disney and Walden eventually grew concerned over safety in Mexico, and Australian officials at Warner Roadshow Studios in Queensland offered to become the project's base for the whole shoot.

Disney announced on December 24, 2008, that it would no longer co-produce the film. Disney and Walden disputed over the budget after the box office performance of Prince Caspian grossed far less than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Disney wanted to limit it to $100 million, whereas Walden wanted a $140 million budget, of which Disney would only need to provide half. Another reason why Disney opted not to produce the film was because they feared the budget would only grow during filming and post-production. The Los Angeles Times also reported "creative differences" led to the split. Times columnist Mary McNamara noted that Disney leaving the series could be a mistake, because Voyage is the most popular Narnia book, while Caspian was the series' least popular and did not create the anticipation surrounding the first film. Walden began searching for a new distributor for the film. Several other studios, including Sony's Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox were in negotiations to distribute the film, although several markets already predicted that Fox would take over.

It was announced in January 2009 that 20th Century Fox would replace Walt Disney Pictures as the distributor while Disney would still retain the rights for the first two. Fox had pursued the Narnia film rights in 2001 and distributed various other Walden projects. Producer Mark Johnson admitted that "we made some mistakes with Prince Caspian and I don't want to make them again". He said it was "very important" that filmmakers regain the magic for Dawn Treader.

Writing

Michael Petroni was hired to rewrite the script with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, following a draft written by Richard LaGravenese and Steven Knight. The previous two films have been described as remaining more faithful to the original stories than the third instalment. Apted noted the episodic and disconnected nature of the story would need to be revised for a film version, such as the material involving the Dark Island, the Sea Serpent, and Eustace. They even discussed combining The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with The Silver Chair, much as the BBC combined Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian in its television serial. As a result, some elements were borrowed from The Silver Chair, where Narnians are held hostage and rescued. The author's estate did not initially receive the change well, but it gained favour after review.

Eustace has a greater role as a dragon in the film such as not only allowed to proceed with the ship to the next islands in that state, but also proves a valuable asset for the crew for the remainder of the voyage. This is so he could take a major part in the action and not merely do expedition work duty as in the book. The book's stream of consciousness description about Eustace gradually realizing that he had become a dragon while sleeping is effective as text, but it could not easily be translated onto film. Further, a noted passage from the book where Aslan peels Eustace's dragon skin off in layers is not used. Walden President Micheal Flaherty remarked about it that "people don't earn grace; they receive it once they are humbled and aware of their need." The old dragon which Eustace finds, and sees it die of old age, in the valley in the book, is not used in the film.

Filming

Ernie Malik, a unit publicist for the film, confirmed that filming began on July 27, 2009, on location in Queensland, Australia. Filming took place at Village Roadshow Studios in August and September 2009, with filming of exterior shots on board the ship at Cleveland Point and the Gold Coast Seaway in September 2009. Apted stated that fellow directors Gore Verbinski and Peter Weir recommended him not to shoot on water, so they built a giant Dawn Treader on a gimbal at, which allowed it to rock and shift as if on the high seas. At the extreme end of the town's peninsula, jutting into Moreton Bay, the 145-tonne (160-ton) boat could be rotated through 360 degrees to keep the sun angles consistent. Additional shots were taken at the Southport School, also located on the Gold Coast. It was also filmed at White Island in New Zealand.

Effects

There are 1,400 special effects shots that were made for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, more than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's 800 and fewer than Prince Caspian's 1,500 shots. Angus Bickerton served as the lead visual effects supervisor of the film while Jim Rygiel, who supervised the effects on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, worked as the senior visual effects supervisor. British visual effects companies the Moving Picture Company, Framestore CFC, and The Senate VFX were hired to create the visual effects alongside Cinesite and The Mill. Moving Picture worked on the dragon Eustace and the Dawn Treader. They say the dragon is "amongst the most heroic characters ever created, and is scheduled to be featured in around 200 shots of the movie." They also revised Reepicheep from the previous film by saturating his colour, giving him bushier eyebrows and ear hair, and made his whiskers a little more wiry just to give him a sense of age. Framestore also revised Aslan, changing his colour palette to be a more realistic lion than a golden lion and adding a darker mane; they also created 16 different dufflepuds to replace Jonathan Fawkner and Angus Bickerton running around first as dufflepuds on the set; The Senate worked on the opening shot of King's College, Cambridge, as well as the star effect on Liliandil at Ramandu's Island; Cinesite worked on the Dark Island, and Fugitive Studios did the end titles and credits, which featured original drawings created by Pauline Baynes for the Narnia books. These illustrations were included because the film's creators wanted the credits to have visual interest, and also because they wished to include an acknowledgement to Pauline Baynes, who died in August 2008.

Conversion to 3D

After the success of the 3D release of Avatar, 20th Century Fox announced in February 2010 that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader would be released in Digital 3D and RealD 3D formats; it is the first Narnia film to have a 3D release. Walden had previous experience creating 3D films, having released James Cameron's documentaries Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep, as well as Journey to the Center of the Earth with New Line Cinema. The filmmakers initially discussed shooting the film in 3D during principal photography but later decided to shoot in two-dimensional cameras to save on costs. Prime Focus Group was hired in June 2010 to convert the film to 3D during post-production. Film director Joe Dante remarked that Apted was at first sceptical about the conversion, stating "If I was gonna do a 3D movie, I would have done it differently." Later, he remarked that he was excited after seeing progress during the conversion. Dawn Treader was his first 3D film. Johnson later said that the reason for the film's 3D release was to help Dawn Treader at the box office, where it would be in competition with films such as Tangled, Tron: Legacy, and Yogi Bear which were released in 3D.

Music

Composer David Arnold scored the film, with themes composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (who scored the first two films). It was the Arnold's fourth collaboration with Apted, after The World Is Not Enough, Enough, and Amazing Grace. Arnold worked with Paul Apted in editing the score. The scoring sessions took place during September and work was completed on October 8, 2010. An original song, "There's a Place for Us" written by Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, and Hillary Lindsey, and recorded by Underwood, was released on November 16, 2010 exclusively on iTunes. It was released on December 7, 2010 by Sony Masterworks. Covers of the song have been recorded by various singers around the world.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader held its world premiere on November 30, 2010 in London at the Royal Film Performance in Leicester Square. It was the first time the Royal Film Performance was screened in Digital 3D and the second time a Narnia film premiered at the event, the first being The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005. The premiere was attended by various personalities, including Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. It was given a pre-release gala on December 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee followed by a North American premiere in Louisville, Kentucky on December 9, 2010. The film was originally set to have a May 2009 release date when Disney was still producing it. But was later delayed when Disney pulled itself and Fox helmed the production. Fox later announced a December 2010 release date because it felt that Narnia would do better during the holidays. It had its major release in Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and 2D formats in Asia and Australia on December 2, 2010 and in North America and Europe on December 10, 2010.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was met with mixed reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 50% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of 166 reviews, with a rating average of 5.72/10. The consensus reads: "Its leisurely, business-like pace won't win the franchise many new fans, but Voyage of the Dawn Treader restores some of the Narnia franchise's lost lustre with strong performances and impressive special effects." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating from film critics, the film has a rating score of 53% based on 33 reviews. CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave the film an A- on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film and gave it three stars out of four, saying "This is a rip-snorting adventure fantasy for families, especially the younger members who are not insistent on continuity." Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave it a three stars out of four; he remarked it is "a worthy challenger to the far more popular Harry Potter pictures". The Guardian gave the film a positive review. They stated that the film "arrives with confidence and bravado intact.... and arguably the most Tolkien-esque of the Narnia books". IGN was positive, stating "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a solid sequel that might even surpass the first entry as the best in the series for some fans. It also bodes well for the future of this once iffy franchise."

Several film critics have praised Apted's direction in character development and Poulter's performance as Eustace. Among them, The Arizona Republic's Kerry Lengel said, "the best thing about the film is neither the top-notch CGI nor the shallow moral lessons but the performance of Georgie Henley as Lucy as well as the performance of her and Edmund's insufferable cousin Eustace Scrubb." Luke Y. Thompson from E! Online praised the performances, stating "Henley and Keynes are charming as ever, and Poulter's turn as Eustace injects a welcome note of comedic cynicism into the sea of sentimentality. Simon Pegg ably succeeds Eddie Izzard as mouse warrior Reepicheep, Bille Brown's sorcerer Coriakin has a fun performance and a sequence in which Lucy inadvertently wishes her life away is brilliantly disorienting and nightmarish."

Despite the movie adaptation of the book to appeal to the "everyman" and not just to Christian audiences and Lewis fans (with the introduction of the search for the seven swords side plot, the continued reoccurrence of the White Queen, and the larger role for the dragon Eustace), Christian reviewers found much to like about the movie. Key for many was the closing scene with Lucy and Aslan in which Aslan assures a sobbing Lucy "that he's very much in her world, where he has 'another name'. and that "This was the very reason why (Lucy was) brought to Narnia, that by knowing (Aslan) here for a little, (she) may know (him) better there." This was in direct contradiction to the first two Narnia movies in which Christian reviewers felt that the director failed to grasp and accurately reproduce key sections and overriding themes from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.

The film grossed $415.7 million worldwide, including $104.4 million in North America as well as $311.3 million in other territories. It is the 12th-highest-grossing film worldwide of 2010, as well as Fox's highest-grossing film of that year since, ahead of Knight and Day and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opened in 3,555 theatres across the United States and Canada on December 10, 2010. On its opening day, the film grossed $8.3 million, which was far lower than the $23 million that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made on its opening day in 2005, and also much lower than Prince Caspian, which had an opening day gross of $19.4 million in 2008. Although The Voyage of the Dawn Treader debuted at #1 at the box office and grossed $24.0 million for its opening weekend, it was far less than the opening weekends of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ($65.6 million) and Prince Caspian ($55.0 million). Despite The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's disappointing opening weekend, Fox believed that word of mouth and the holiday season would help the film hold well. In its second weekend, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader dropped 48%, the smallest second-weekend drop in the franchise, and came in with $12.4 million, in third place to Tron: Legacy and Yogi Bear. During its third weekend, the 2010 Christmas weekend, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader dropped only 24%, the smallest decline among nationwide releases, and grossed $9.5 million. In the 2011 New Year's weekend, the film increased 8% from the previous weekend, grossing $10.3 million. On January 22, 2011, the film's forty-fourth day in theatres, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader became 20th Century Fox's first film to gross $100 million in the United States and Canada since Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel crossed that mark in December 2009. However, it is the slowest Narnia film to reach $100 million in these regions, taking much longer than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (nine days) and Prince Caspian (thirteen days).

Overseas, the film performed better. On its limited opening weekend (Dec. 3–5, 2010) when it opened in only 9 territories (among them some limited releases), it earned $11.9 million ranking 4th for the weekend. On its first weekend of wide release (Dec. 10–12, 2010), it expanded to 58 countries and topped the box office, earning $65.8 million, for an overseas total of $79.8 million. The film's biggest opening market was Russia, where it opened with $10.9 million (the best start for the franchise) including previews. It had the best opening of for a Narnia film in Mexico ($7.1 million including previews) and South Korea ($5.3 million including previews). Its opening in the UK, a mere $3.9 million, was less than half of what Prince Caspian opened with and about a quarter of the first film's UK opening in 2005. However, the film held well throughout the holiday season in the UK, and on the weekend ending January 9, 2011 it out grossed the £11,653,554 that Prince Caspian made in that region. It made £14,317,168 ($23,650,534) at the UK box office.

On its second weekend, it held to the top spot at the box office, but declined 53% to $31.2 million for an overseas total of $125.2 million. It fell to fifth place on the Christmas weekend ($23.1 million) and on New Year's weekend it went down to sixth place ($19.3 million) for an overseas total of $210.2 million. It eased 5% to $18.4 million from 53 markets on its fifth showing for a fourth-place finish. It had a major opening of $6.3 million in China, which was better than Prince Caspian's $3.9 million. On its 12th weekend (February 25–27), it surpassed Prince Caspian's foreign gross ($278 million) when it opened in Japan, with a $6.6 million gross, which is behind the first film's opening ($8.9 million) but better than the second film's ($5 million).

Budget $140–155 million

Box office $415 million

My Review

This latest episode of "The Chronicles of Narnia" is bringing to an end a generation of children who have been confronted to that magic world. In the present context the original meaning of WW2 is put aside, particularly for children.

For children it is first of all a magic world where animals speak and can be your friends, where children can become heroes and fight fundamental battles for a better future for everyone. These adventures are dangerous but marvelous and the final destination of these adventures is to liberate the world of evil forces.

The objective is to defend Narnia against external menaces but in this film, maybe even more than in the previous films the menace against this marvellous world comes from the inside of those who want to defend it. The evil forces are over there far away in some distant island but they have no power by themselves and they find all the power they need to dominate the world in the greed, envy, jealousy and other negative attitudes that reside and develop in the minds of the defenders of Narnia.

That is the main lesson for the children: you have to learn how to dominate these negative feelings you nurture day after day in your egotism.

Then all the rest is nothing but adventure and its dangers are not real dangers, at the worst they are temptations. But in this world there are some guides you have to follow, a blue star like a blue fairy in some other old story, the lion Aslan who can intervene to save a lost situation at the very last minute, the mission and its objective of bringing the seven swords of seven old knights to the table of Aslan, and the goal of that mission which is to liberate people who have been taken hostages by the evil forces. But these forces don't have any human or physical form, at best a vapor in the air and an image that springs from our own phantasms.

The trick of the story is to put it upside down from beginning to end. The grouchy unwilling participant at the start will become the hero who saves the situation. He will take the form a dragon, an allusion to Siegfried's dragon Fafner, but a good dragon, an allusion to other dragons in many stories. His worst enemy is a mouse at the beginning who will become his best friend at the end.

That's the second lesson for children. One day comes with that important change you must accept: not to be children any more and to assume the responsibilities the world has entrusted you with or is going to entrust you with as adults. A sad change but inevitable.

When Aslan announces that the older two Pevensie kids will not be returning to Narnia because they've learned all of lessons needed for their lives, my thought was why wasn't I allowed to go to Narnia when I was a kid? We should all get the chance to improve our characters in a place like that.

Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes returning as Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are now visiting some relatives and one of them is this spoiled cousin Eustace. While looking at a seascape painting all of a sudden the room fills with water coming out of the picture. Soon among all kinds of floating debris in the room all three kids find themselves in the ocean and rescued by Prince Caspian from the last Narnia film.

Ben Barnes is back as Caspian who is now a king and he's on the finest ship of the line of the Narnian Navy, the Dawn Treader. It's not clear why the kids who rescued Narnia twice before have been summoned back or just why they've got this stowaway among them. Still there they are on this ancient sailing vessel and cousin Eustace is screaming for the British consul.

C.S. Lewis created quite a character in Eustace it will be interesting to see how he develops in future. I think the inspiration that Lewis got might have come from a more cynical author Mark Twain when he created Sid Sawyer, little goody two shoes spoiled brother of Tom Sawyer. Will Poulter plays Eustace quite nicely and the Tom Sawyer comparison is unmistakable.

When the Dawn Treader arrives where it's supposed to, a strange mist has taken a whole lot of folks away, they've seemingly disappeared. Now we know why the Pevensies are back and their mission is clear to save Narnia again.

20th Century Fox took over from Walt Disney Studios production of this third Chronicles Of Narnia film and the transition is seamless with the same high standard in production values and good story carrying over from the first two films. I think C.S. Lewis would be proud the way The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was handled.

For adults this film, like the original story, has to be put in perspective with T.S. Eliot and his "Murder in the Cathedral" where he denounces human evil forces, the fascists and Nazis and calls us to fight against them, and with H.G. Wells who develops a Marxist form of social Darwinism in which the working class becomes an underground species that are the predators of the bourgeoisie that has become another species on the surface. The answer of H.G. Wells to that evil is a severe eugenic policy eliminating all racial and social groups that may endanger the balanced development of civilization. C.S. Lewis believes we are all different, each one of us must accept what they are and what all others are. Differences are the richness of this human vision. 9/10

{The fact that I remembered this one but not Prince Caspian is hilarious. If I remember correctly when I was younger this one was my favourite of the trilogy, looking back I can't see why. Don't get me wrong it's good, but nothing compared to the original. Again, for some reason, the main scene I remember from this film before I rewatched was toward the end where they are in the green mists' lair and Tilda Swinton appears and flirts with Edmund. Throughout the three films Edmund has some weird pervy obsession with Jadis - despite being a kid the first time he ever met her}