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sophia_sol) wrote2010-12-14 11:02 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2010-12-14 11:02 pm
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Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Today I got to see the latest of the Narnia movies! There was no way I wasn’t going to see it – the Narnia books were a mainstay of my childhood, and I love them dearly. And I loved the first two movies (the first one more than the second, but I still really liked the second).
And...okay, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but this movie was not as good as the first two, gotta say.
Spoilers follow under the cuts.
Things I didn't like:
1. I can see that they must have thought they needed to do something to tie together the extremely episodic nature of the book. I don't begrudge them that, because it makes sense. But if they had to do so, they really should have come up with a better way of doing so.
Green mist of evil, that sends out tendrils of temptation to people to behave badly? Really? I can see where they thought they were getting that from, what with Lucy and the beauty spell, and Eustace and the dragon hoard. But they got the green mist involved in almost every part of the story, subverting the actual motivations that were supposed to be happening in any given scene, changing the entire feel of the story.
Also, the green mist just looked stupid.
2. The way they took over the Lone Islands was extremely disappointing. Fighting? Really? It was supposed to be through SHEER FORCE OF AWESOME, with not a single sword needing to be drawn.
Minor unimportant things that I'm unreasonably bitter about:
1. They got the line ALL WRONG about what it felt like to have the dragon skin scraped off! It hurt, but it was a good hurt – yes. It was like pulling a thorn out of a foot? Well, okay, I can see that that might be equatable, but the proper line is about picking scabs: it hurts like the billy-oh but it feels so good to watch it peel it off. Which I connected with so much as a kid (and, really, still do). So to have that line just discarded – not discarded, REPLACED – made me feel really bitter. Because I'm petty like that sometimes.
2. Jill Pole was mentioned at the end by Aunt Alberta as coming over to see Eustace. Um, WHY? Jill and Eustace meet each other properly approximately ten minutes before they go to Narnia together in The Silver Chair! They were not acquaintances beforehand! WHY IS JILL COMING OVER?
3. The golden pool was ALL WRONG. This is one of those scenes that looms LARGE in my mind, because the first time I read this book I was so freaked out by that scene that I actually could not finish the book, and then had trouble falling asleep that night. IT WAS SCARY OKAY. So the implication that he fell in because of being tempted by the gold? It was wrong! It was a warm day, he decided to go swimming, he dove in unwittingly, and turned to gold. It is important that it was entirely accidental and unwitting and undeserved! Otherwise it’s not NEARLY so freaky a scene!
And removing the possibility that any of the main characters might have accidentally been goldified too was a mistake. The tip of Edmund's boot got turned to gold, because he got too close, and they very nearly went swimming themselves before they realized what was up. Having them realize right away what was going on just removed that layer of creepiness.
And putting it into a cave just serves to make it less creepy too. Part of what's so great about that scene is that it's an entirely deceptive-looking pool. It looks pretty, and welcoming, and just generally nice! Hence why they dipped a sprig of heather into it, not an old gnarly stick of wood. A thing of huge creepiness in a TOTALLY NORMAL HAPPY PLACE is far creepier than a thing of huge creepiness in a creepy cave.
...in case you can't tell, I have very strong feelings about that golden pool.
Things I liked:
1. REEPICHEEP. Um. I had forgotten how MADLY I love Reepicheep, and he was just done to perfection here. AND. Every single scene between Reepicheep and Eustace. OMG. I just loved those scenes so very much. They were the HIGHLIGHT of the movie for me, I think. They were just so adorable, and Reepicheep was such a wonderful role-model and mentor for Eustace, and basically those two made me ridiculously happy. I am not ashamed to admit, I had tears in my eyes when Reepicheep and Eustace were saying goodbye to each other at the end.
2. Speaking of which, EUSTACE. They chose well when they cast that actor. He just was Eustace, every inch of him, and I was really impressed. OH EUSTACE.
3. Um. Is it just me, or is Caspian suddenly magically really hot in this movie? I had to check the credits at the end to see if they'd changed the actor playing him, because he looked so different to me. In Prince Caspian he left me entirely cold, but in this movie, in every scene Caspian was in, at least half of me was entirely occupied with just watching him be pretty.
4. NARNIA! Okay, even during the scenes in this movie that I was rolling my eyes the hardest, I still grinned madly the whole way through, because – NARNIA. Narnia owns a portion of my heart, and getting to spend a couple hours there is just a joy.
5. Okay, giving credit where credit is due, I actually did like the bits of the green mist that involved the White Witch and Edmund, because I totally buy that the guilt of that whole thing is dogging Edmund, and will dog him all his life.
All in all: I enjoyed it! I had fun! I rolled my eyes a lot! I grinned a lot! I cried a little!
And...okay, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but this movie was not as good as the first two, gotta say.
Spoilers follow under the cuts.
Things I didn't like:
1. I can see that they must have thought they needed to do something to tie together the extremely episodic nature of the book. I don't begrudge them that, because it makes sense. But if they had to do so, they really should have come up with a better way of doing so.
Green mist of evil, that sends out tendrils of temptation to people to behave badly? Really? I can see where they thought they were getting that from, what with Lucy and the beauty spell, and Eustace and the dragon hoard. But they got the green mist involved in almost every part of the story, subverting the actual motivations that were supposed to be happening in any given scene, changing the entire feel of the story.
Also, the green mist just looked stupid.
2. The way they took over the Lone Islands was extremely disappointing. Fighting? Really? It was supposed to be through SHEER FORCE OF AWESOME, with not a single sword needing to be drawn.
Minor unimportant things that I'm unreasonably bitter about:
1. They got the line ALL WRONG about what it felt like to have the dragon skin scraped off! It hurt, but it was a good hurt – yes. It was like pulling a thorn out of a foot? Well, okay, I can see that that might be equatable, but the proper line is about picking scabs: it hurts like the billy-oh but it feels so good to watch it peel it off. Which I connected with so much as a kid (and, really, still do). So to have that line just discarded – not discarded, REPLACED – made me feel really bitter. Because I'm petty like that sometimes.
2. Jill Pole was mentioned at the end by Aunt Alberta as coming over to see Eustace. Um, WHY? Jill and Eustace meet each other properly approximately ten minutes before they go to Narnia together in The Silver Chair! They were not acquaintances beforehand! WHY IS JILL COMING OVER?
3. The golden pool was ALL WRONG. This is one of those scenes that looms LARGE in my mind, because the first time I read this book I was so freaked out by that scene that I actually could not finish the book, and then had trouble falling asleep that night. IT WAS SCARY OKAY. So the implication that he fell in because of being tempted by the gold? It was wrong! It was a warm day, he decided to go swimming, he dove in unwittingly, and turned to gold. It is important that it was entirely accidental and unwitting and undeserved! Otherwise it’s not NEARLY so freaky a scene!
And removing the possibility that any of the main characters might have accidentally been goldified too was a mistake. The tip of Edmund's boot got turned to gold, because he got too close, and they very nearly went swimming themselves before they realized what was up. Having them realize right away what was going on just removed that layer of creepiness.
And putting it into a cave just serves to make it less creepy too. Part of what's so great about that scene is that it's an entirely deceptive-looking pool. It looks pretty, and welcoming, and just generally nice! Hence why they dipped a sprig of heather into it, not an old gnarly stick of wood. A thing of huge creepiness in a TOTALLY NORMAL HAPPY PLACE is far creepier than a thing of huge creepiness in a creepy cave.
...in case you can't tell, I have very strong feelings about that golden pool.
Things I liked:
1. REEPICHEEP. Um. I had forgotten how MADLY I love Reepicheep, and he was just done to perfection here. AND. Every single scene between Reepicheep and Eustace. OMG. I just loved those scenes so very much. They were the HIGHLIGHT of the movie for me, I think. They were just so adorable, and Reepicheep was such a wonderful role-model and mentor for Eustace, and basically those two made me ridiculously happy. I am not ashamed to admit, I had tears in my eyes when Reepicheep and Eustace were saying goodbye to each other at the end.
2. Speaking of which, EUSTACE. They chose well when they cast that actor. He just was Eustace, every inch of him, and I was really impressed. OH EUSTACE.
3. Um. Is it just me, or is Caspian suddenly magically really hot in this movie? I had to check the credits at the end to see if they'd changed the actor playing him, because he looked so different to me. In Prince Caspian he left me entirely cold, but in this movie, in every scene Caspian was in, at least half of me was entirely occupied with just watching him be pretty.
4. NARNIA! Okay, even during the scenes in this movie that I was rolling my eyes the hardest, I still grinned madly the whole way through, because – NARNIA. Narnia owns a portion of my heart, and getting to spend a couple hours there is just a joy.
5. Okay, giving credit where credit is due, I actually did like the bits of the green mist that involved the White Witch and Edmund, because I totally buy that the guilt of that whole thing is dogging Edmund, and will dog him all his life.
All in all: I enjoyed it! I had fun! I rolled my eyes a lot! I grinned a lot! I cried a little!
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At any rate, yes, I know quite what you mean about a book being SO SPECIAL TO ME and then the movie-makers RUINING IT. (yes. The dragon island is SO WRONG. Actually, a LOT of things are wrong that I didn't even get around to mentioning in my post because they weren't as important.) I...you have no idea HOW BITTER I AM about how they completely ruined the scene with the golden pool in just about every way imaginable. Until that moment I hadn't quite realized JUST HOW MUCH that scene mattered to me. Though the Narnia book that matters the most to me is The Horse and His Boy, and if they ruin my important bits in that one (if they get around to that one) then I will be VERY FRUSTRATED.
So. Yes, do expect to be disappointed in a lot, because they changed a LOT of details from the book. But despite that there ARE good notes to watch for. I'll be interested to see what your reaction will be when you do get the chance to see it!