The Third installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series. A splendid adventure that worked far better than the last- Prince Caspian.

The new Narnia adventure begins with a picture in a room that literally captivates the two youngest Pevensie children- Edmund and Lucy along with their bratty cousin Eustace. Soon they find themselves in the Narnia sea being pulled aboard a ship called the Dawn Treader which is lead by King Caspian (Formerly prince). Then the non-stop adventure begins.

Every island stopped at and explored presents a new set of problems plus new characters and lessons to be observed and learned.

Edmund is tired of always being second fiddle, Lucy is obsessed with being pretty like her sister Susan, and Eustace would just like to go home and continues to be a mouthy brat that doesn’t take orders well but the feisty fighting mouse -Reepicheep dogs his every step and eventually shows him the error of his ways.

Evil represented by a green mist in the movie preys upon the weaknesses and obsessions of the 3 children in particular. Eustace ends up being turned into a dragon and everyone aboard the Dawn Treader ends up battling a sea serpent.

Oh yes, along the way they finally meet up with Aslan who puts their whole adventure and lessons to be learn into a useful spiritual perspective.

A great movie for the whole family.

A very dark movie. Parents should really take the PG-13 seriously. At the showing I went to there were far too many young children.

It is all out war now between those who support Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. Harry along with his friends Hermione and most of the time Ron are on the run for their very lives.

It is one confrontation after another and even the close friendship of the three begins to wear very thin as family and their circle of friends are all challenged and some are even killed in the process.

The writers are very successful in this episode creating and sustaining tension and desperation throughout with only fleeting moments of rest. Actually the film is way too long and emotionally exhausting.

Very few redeeming moments and themes in this movie and the evil side seems to be dominating. However, Harry and friends meet every test and are still standing at the end.

As the name indicates it is really only Part 1 and one truly hopes that it will be worth it all after Part 2 is viewed. We leave our heroes in the throes of desperation and seek resolution in part 2 this coming Summer.

Review

This film was a major disappointment. My grandson and I looked forward to seeing this for months. I was looking forward to see another M. Night Shyamalan masterpiece and this wasn’t while my grandson is a fan of the TV series the movie is based upon. Both of us were completely disappointed.

First of all- the title of the movie should have been ‘The Avatar’ like the TV series but we all know why that just wasn’t possible. It was like an omen of bad things to come.

I don’t think that Shyamalan really ever understood the story and the characters from the TV series. Somehow he must have gotten bogged down in the sets and special effects which by the way weren’t even that good considering that this could have been an epic similar to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ series or ‘Star Wars’.

The biggest problem were the characters. They were never really developed and never got to the place where I even cared that much for any of them.

Aang ‘the Avatar’ was too dark and confused to be a ‘hero’ and the special effects didn’t really do justice to the powers he was touted to command. Prince Zuko was somewhat sympathetically portrayed but my grandson said Katara was a ‘whiny baby’ in the movie where she is tough and courageous in the TV series.

It was way too serious and comedy relief was totally lacking. Humor served the ‘Ring’ series well and also the Star Wars movies along with the Avatar TV series but not in this movie for some reason. In the end the characters were not even really that likeable.  

Religion

Going in we knew that the story would be steeped in Eastern religions and pantheism. Each of the major people groups had their own champion ‘gods’ or spiritual forces. The ‘fire people’ leader could care less about religion and was in to power and domination. The Avatar ‘Airbender’ was supposed to be the one which would bring peace and so-called balance between the different forces and gods—a ‘messiah’ of sorts.

The explanations of this were rather lacking and murky in the film.

Conclusion

The film ended with a victory that was left uncelebrated. The ‘water people’ bowed down to the Avatar and that was it- and who really cares for that matter. Nothing like the celebration at the end of the first Star Wars movie (now they call it the 4th). 

At the end, both of us wondered if we would even bother to see the sequel if it ever happens. Probably not. My advice—don’t waste your time and money on this turkey.           *Top  

The best ‘Toy Story’ of all. An actual adventure with all sorts of good lessons and fun. I took two of my grandchildren to see it-ages 4 and 12- and both liked it. Usually in animated movies I get in a wonderful nap but not this time. Woody and Buzz are back along with Jessie and the potato heads.

Andy is all grown up now and getting ready to head for college. What to do with all of his old toys? Store them, give ‘em away or dump ‘em. That is the dilemma– the toys are facing an uncertain future.

Through a number of unforeseen circumstances the toys end up at a day care center being mistreated by toddlers during the day and imprisoned by a toy mobster at night.

The greatest fun was had when Barbie meets up with Ken there. It is delightful and hilarious when Ken does a private showing of his extensive wardrobe.

A ‘Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear’- Lotso for short ends up being the villain that acts like a mobster who tries to enslave our hero toys. In the process of escaping from Lotso’s organization Woody and the rest end up at the dump. For small children this part of the story is the scariest of all. For old guys like me too!

However, all ends up well as the toys help each other out and eventually find themselves in another very fine home. Obviously more stories to come.

The movie features animals which are extinct, and a variety of human cultures which never existed side by side or even in the same era or continent. Nevertheless, the story was interesting and at times almost magical.

D’Leh is the hero of the story, living in a tribe which hunts woolly-mammoth and reminds one of North American Indian culture. A group of horsemen raid the village and carry off a bunch of folks including Evolet, D’leh’s blue-eyed and beautiful girlfriend. D’Leh and a group from the village pursue the raiders. On the way they encounter sabre-toothed tigers and a type of pre-historic lizard that reminds one of the Raptors in Jurassic Park.

They finally come upon a village of black people, that is reminiscent of 18th century central Africa, which has also been raided and they join together in the pursuit. After a one day journey across a vast desert, they come to what looks like an Egyptian city along a large river (probably the Nile) with a huge pyramid being built by thousands of slaves and an advanced complex culture of noblemen, military, and priests.

The movie features one-dimensional characters which are either all good or all evil.  D’Leh, our designated hero, proves his moral character at the beginning by refusing to accept glory and honor that came his way by accident.  Even though he would have gained Evolet for his wife in the process. The Egyptian raiders exhibit no such redeeming characteristics at all.

It finally gets down to a real battle with panoramic fighting scenes on top of and flowing off of the pyramid. However, there is also an unseen religious power encounter going on at the same time.  Behind the battles scenes, there is a ‘spiritual’ battle going on between the Egyptian priests and prophets, verses the native North-American type village witch doctor lady who exhibits a New Age/ Star Wars Jedi type of vision/power projection. Guess who wins the day!            *Top

One year has passed since they returned from their adventures in Narnia. The four Pevensie children are preparing to go back to school and it is obvious that they are having problems dealing with kids their own age and with the fact that they are merely regular children and not the grown-up kings and queens of Narnia.

But soon they are off for another adventure. One minute they are in a train station, and the next in far away Narnia. Prince Caspian is running for his life with his uncle’s troops after him, he calls for help by blowing on the magic horn that once belonged to Queen Susan, and immediately the four Pevensie children find themselves whisked away to their magical land once more.

It has been only a year for the Pevensie kids, but over 1,000 years have passed in Narnia. Their former castle in in ruins and now they are merely remote legends that have been are nearly forgotten in a realm that has changed so much that many of the creatures have forgotten how to speak, and magic and faith seem to be long gone.

This Narnia is far closer to the world we live in, where the strong take advantage of the weak and Lions who are divine are usually not directly experienced.  Lucy is the only one who sees Aslan through the ‘eyes of faith’. God is far more remote in this land than previous.

Since Aslan doesn’t seem to be around, Peter takes over and makes a number of Kingly decisions which turn out be disastrous. Some of the followers decide that the old evil witch had more ‘power’ and actually try to bring her back and replace Aslan with her in the place of worship. Fortunately, they are stopped, Edmund being a hero in this case.

At the moment when it looks like Prince Caspian’s uncle and his army will conquer and enslave them all. They send Lucy to find Aslan and of course Lucy and Aslan save the day.

Just like in our own experience in today’s world, many times Christians with the best of motives and intentions will attempt to do things on their own without the help and counsel of the Lord. Impatient to do something even when God seems rather remote at the time. Disaster strikes, and then we remember to seek the Lord and he pulls us out of the fire.  That is the basic religious lesson and theme of Prince Caspian.

While the movie didn’t really stick to the original book, the important lessons and themes are still there. Besides, the story is entertaining and the scenes are rather awesome.            *Top

Cast: Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow), Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann), Orlando Bloom (Will Turner), Geoffrey Rush (Hector Barbossa), Bill Nighy (Davy Jones), Naomie Harris (Tia Dalma), Tom Hollander (Beckett), Chow Yun-Fat (Captain Sao Feng)

I saw this film two weeks ago and was so disappointed that I haven’t wanted to post a review on it. I really don’t know where to begin except to say that is it far too long, way too confusing in plot, and the characters have been completely over taken by extreme continual action and computer generated graphics.

However, if you’ve seen the first two, you will have to see this one also and put up with all the bad in order to receive the dozen or so golden nuggets that the film does have.

I can’t really begin to tell you what this movie is really all about. Is it about a love story between Elizabeth and Will? Well yes. What about Elizabeth and Jack? Well that is complicated isn’t it? Maybe it is a loves story between Davy Jones and Calypso? Well maybe not! What about Will rescuing his father? Yes, that too. Then there is Lord Beckett who is obsessed with eliminating all the pirates for some reason. Then there is all the folk trying to rescue Jack. Also, there is the story line about all the pirate leaders and pirate King. In the end, there are all the sea legends and monsters which seem to overtake the rest of the storyline threads.

Despite all the action, there are still moments in which the movie lags and drags. And talking about the action, there are an awful lot of violent and gruesome scenes in this movie. Parents should take care in evaluating whether their children are mature enough to view this episode. It goes even beyond the 2nd movie in gross displays of violence.

The greatest disappointment for me is the lack of character exploration. A Dozen or so interesting characters were introduced with little or no development. Even the Jack Sparrow character was not used as much in this movie as one might expect. They introduce us to Jack’s father (Keith Richards) which is interesting, but it is little more than a passing cameo and leaves you begging for more.

The end leaves something to be desired, and obviously a fourth movie will be necessary in this series in order to rescue Will from the situation they left him in.             *Top

A delightful story based upon the popular children’s book by E.B. White.  Wilbur is born the runt of the litter and about to be eliminated by the farmer when his daughter Fern (Dakota Fanning) protests and saves the little piglet.  Fern raises the little pig and treats him like a puppy, even taking him to school one day.

The time finally comes when Wilber is too large to keep as a pet in the house.  The pig is moved to the barnyard of the uncle’s farm (Homer Zuckerman) across the road and Fern continues to visit Wilber every day.  A new story line begins as Wilber makes friends with all the animals in the barn, especially a spider named Charlotte (Julia Roberts).  All of the barnyard characters are quite interesting, particularly a rat named Templeton.

Out past the barnyard is a smokehouse that Wilber asks about.  The rest of the animals finally tell him about it and also warn him that ‘spring’ pigs like him usually end up in the smokehouse and never live to see the wintertime or the snow.  Wilber wants to see the snow.  The rest of the story is about how Charlotte spins special webs with messages featuring the pig and how Wilber and Charlotte’s webs become a tourist attraction.  Oh yes, Wilber becomes a prize winning pig and lives to see the snows of winter.

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On one level, this movie is a fast paced popcorn action flick that can be enjoyed by those hoping to get away from reality. On another level, many reviewers have detected parallels to all sorts of current issues and cultural conflicts portrayed in the story.  There is the continuing moral question of treatment of minority people who are quite different and maybe even scary.

There are a number of new mutants introduced in this movie.  Kelsey Grammer plays ‘The Beast’, who is a mild mannered politician-’The Secretary of Mutant Affairs’, until the final battle begins.  Another back story involves ‘Angel’, who tries to cut off his own wings as a child, in order to gain approval from his father.

It is Angel’s father who bankrolls the development of an antidote to the mutant gene.  Ironically, it was developed from blood of a mutant which deadens the unique abilities of other mutants.  All mutants are faced with how to respond to this new ‘treatment’.  Those who would like to be ‘normal’ are tempted to accept the voluntary procedure.  Rogue, for instance, would like to finally touch the ones she loves without bringing extreme injury or death.

Magneto views this development as tantamount to a declaration of war, and seeks to eliminated the ‘problem’.  Our superheroes stand between the Humans and the rogue mutants following Magneto.  The main battle is impressive but lasts only a short time.  There are a couple of major characters who are apparently eliminated, and there are a lots of loose ends at the finish of the movie.  If you wait all the way through to the end of the credits, at least one loose end may be resolved.  The special effects and the end battle are worth the price of admission.

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My favorite film of the year.  Especially since I read the Book it is based upon.  I look forward to more of this series coming to the screen in the future–I’ve read all the books, in fact I believe I have read all of C.S. Lewis.  My question–when is somebody going to make some movies based upon Lewis’ Sci-Fi triology?

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