Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) directed by Michael Apted, is a fantastic adaptation of C S Lewis’s beloved classic. The music has already received a Golden Globe 2011 nomination and the movie is resplendent with spectacular special effects and fantasy characters. Dragons, sea monsters, talking beasts, medieval worlds, princes, witches, sorcery and time travel are the essence of the Narnia Chronicles. Lewis’s tale is clearly influenced by his early love of the classics; Homer, Virgil, Treasure Island and The Secret Garden. These have been masterfully created for this latest screen version. Lewis’s vivid imagination has finally been well translated. Lewis’s writing was deeply influenced by his early upbringing in Ireland. His Narnian tales were imbued with memories from his beautiful family estate, the early loss of his mother and later his interest in religion and medieval studies.

Lewis was a great friend of J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) who was highly critical of Lewis when he wrote the first in the Narnia series The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in 1950. Lewis finished writing six more Narnia books by 1956. Critics and reviewers were scathing. Critics and Tolkien were all wrong. The beloved children’s classics have sold over 100 million copies of the books and several attempts have been made to adapt the stories for television and film.

Lewis created a rich fantasy world that revolves around four school children, siblings at break from boarding school during the war. The Penensies travel to a remarkable land, Narnia, where they become Kings and Queens with special powers. Lewis creates a rich and enchanting story that is completely convincing. Filmmakers have since struggled to achieve this same degree of credibility. Early adaptations of the stories were fairly absurd with the children being depicted as very naïve and the fantasy world was impossible to properly create, as the technological advances available today just did not exist.

The latest series of adaptations to the screen are far superior with well cast lead characters for the Narnian creatures and superheroes. Where these adaptations fall short is in the casting of the children. The actors cast in these roles do not give the viewer the slightest confidence that they would be capable of taking on the leadership roles that are attributed to them. In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it is really a shame to find this same flaw persists. Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) portrays a handsome, confident character, one can believe is a leader of a Kingdom. Not so with Edmund (Skandar Keynes) who does not have the maturity or gravitas to understand the spell the White Witch (enchantress Tilda Swinton) tries to cast upon him.