The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (3 Stars)

Georgie Henley & Skandar Keynes in the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The "faith group," as director Michael Apted has referred to the Christian moviegoing base that helped turn "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" into a worldwide success, may have felt snubbed by the frenetic second film in the series, "Prince Caspian."

The first made $745 million; the second, a pleasant-sounding but unprofitable $420 million, owing to the hundreds of millions involved in production and marketing.

The new "Narnia" chronicle, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," does not take either the faith group or the faithless group for granted.

It strikes an artful balance between allegorical religious concerns and escapist ones. I enjoyed "The Dawn Treader" more than its predecessors, simply because at his best, Apted, the new director (though hardly a new director), knows how to put together a high-buck commodity more interestingly than did Andrew Adamson, the man behind the camera for the first two and a producer of the third.

The Christian overtones are there. But now that the crucifixion's out of the way (in the first one) and the effects-heavy bombast (of the second) has been held in check, the results should please a fairly wide audience swath.

The ad campaign steers "The Dawn Treader" as close to the dark threats of "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" as possible, and the screenwriters pull bits and characters from other C.S. Lewis "Narnia" novels to provide both continuity and spice. It's 1943. With Peter off studying for his university entrance exams and Susan off in America, the story centers on Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), stuck in Cambridge, living with their insufferable snot of a cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter).

Instead of a wardrobe, the magical portal to Narnia is a painting of the sailing vessel The Dawn Treader, storm-tossed and ready for its close-up. Suddenly the painting starts gushing and the three kids find themselves underwater, then in Narnian high seas, where they are rescued handily by good King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and the swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep, voiced by Simon Pegg. The Pevensie siblings and their unpleasant cousin begin their search for the seven lost Lords of Temmar, exploring five separate and differently cursed islands, securing the seven Lords' swords and restoring peace to Narnia. The region's guiding light remains Aslan the lion (Liam Neeson, whose voice comes with a special "deity" setting). As he himself notes, Aslan goes by a different name in the "other" world.

The film's otherworldly effects include one-footed Caliban-types, in thrall to the Prospero-like magician Coriakin and, more interestingly, a slithering green mist that preys upon our heroes' and heroines' insecurities and vanity, like a fog machine weaned on too many episodes of "Glee." Apted's brisk, pace-y way with a story rarely takes time for contemplation, but the episodic nature of Lewis' narrative transfers easily and well to the screen. I found the depth of field in the 3-D version of "The Dawn Treader" to be quite impressive, especially on the waves (though more sensitive stomachs may object). Henley and Keynes remain more easygoing than dynamic; then again, there's enough showbiz gushing from Poulter's Eustace for several "Narnia" installments. The savvy but relentless young performer appears to have studied at the Jack "Artful Dodger" Wild School of Aggressive Hamming. Just when you've had it with him, though, Lewis and his adapters allow the foil to learn a lesson or two and grow into his better, more mature self. This is a development both the faith group and the heathens can appreciate, and "The Dawn Treader" doesn't so much reinvent the "Narnia" franchise as do what's needed, and expected, with a little more zip than the previous voyages.

MPAA rating: PG (for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action).

Running time: 1:52.

Cast: Georgie Henley (Lucy); Skandar Keynes (Edmund); Ben Barnes (Caspian); Will Poulter (Eustace); Simon Pegg (voice of Reepicheep the mouse); Liam Neeson (voice of Aslan the lion).

Credits: Directed by Michael Apted; written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Michael Petroni, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis; produced by Andrew Adamson, Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer. A Twentieth Century Fox release.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Review & Trailer | Georgie Henley & Skandar Keynes