Alright, so I've had a very long string of movies that have been good and I've loved them all like strange only recently discovered children that I will send off to homes where they will be well cared for, but I will not see them again unless I really want to. (always terrible to end a sentence with a preposition XP). So, bearing that in mind, this will be the last "good" review I do for a little while. After this, I will issue as much bile as I can muster. But until I find a worthy nemesis on which to unleash my critical venom, it's time to say some more good things about another good movie.
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a wonderful, whimsical, child-like (not to be confused with child-ish), classical fairytale adventure. One of the first things I want to say about this movie is that it is beautiful, well written, atmospheric, and character driven. The last thing I'd like to say about this movie is that it looks great in 3D.
Part of what makes the Narnia series movies great is the rich atmosphere they inhabit. Think of it as a less gritty, less serious version of Lord of the Rings. There are a lot of parallels between the two movies, the biggest in my mind is the fact the the books the films are based on were written by two men who were friends around the time of world war 2. Both stories reflect a lot of the concerns and feelings of people at the time, the battle between good and evil, the value of family and friendship, the importance of courage in the face of adversity and a whole bunch of other good messages.
If you really want to zoom out and view either Tolkein or C.S. Lewis' masterpieces from a more general perspective, they can both be viewed as moral tales. And fortunately for us, moral tales can often open up into bigger scale epic adventures. Every Lord of the Rings movie was a chapter in an epic, viewed in the classic sense (bigger than life heroes doing incredible deeds). So we get romping great adventures and climactic battles with lots of ass-kicking in the middle and righteous resolution at the end where the bad guys get they comeuppance and the good guys get to take a well-deserved break.
There is the very real possibility that there will be another, possibly three more Narnia movies (there were 7 books in all). But for me, Voyage of the Dawntreader felt like a sendoff to me and I think it's a rather fitting way to send the series out. The movie isn't as exciting as the first two films, but there isn't every a spot where it feels like it gets completely boring. Overall the movie has a message about growing up, taking responsibility and moving on. To be honest the story is pretty simple, but because of good storytelling, good cinematography, and good acting, even this simple story still manages to be moving.
So go see this movie, preferably in 3D, because it's really good.
OK, so there's just one last little thing to tie up: it's about time that I ripped into a movie and as a reviewer, it's mandatory that I rip some movie (preferably a suitably bad one that a lot of people like anyway) a new........behind. The laws of cynicism demand it. (damn, ended with a preposition again). So I will be taking suggestions for a movie that is popular, but deserves a good ripping. And I've already ruled out Twilight, we all know it sucks (no pun intended).
So Please, give me suggestions for a BAD MOVIE TO WATCH!
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