Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I’m feeling pretty good about this one. I love the Chronicles of Narnia, always have, and I really did like the film of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I didn’t like Prince Caspian, for a lot of reasons, and I wasn’t alone — the movie did so poorly Disney pulled out of part 3.

But here it is, and it looks amazing. It looks the way I always pictured the events of my favourite of the books, complete with Monopods. Or are they Dufflepuds? The Voyage of the Dawn Treader sees the younger two Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, drawn back to Narnia with their rotten cousin Eustace. There, they meet old friends King Caspian and Reepicheep the mouse, and set off on a long sea voyage in search of the legendary missing lords of Narnia. It’s the most action-packed of the book, with plenty of strange and unusual adventures as the explorers land on strange island after strange island. In other words, perfect for film.

Meanwhile, Sam Raimi is reportedly making a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, possibly with Robert Downey Jr. as the Wizard. Some fans are whining about this, but I should point out that the Oz movie we all know was actually a remake of a remake of a remake, and Oz has been on film for as long as there has been film. Baum’s books are rich with characters other than Dorothy and Toto, and there’s plenty of story there for a whole long series of films.