The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 
 
 'Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' review: Generic faith-based message bores 
 
 Everett Collection 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' stars Ben Barnes L.), Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley. 
 
 Third adventure in C.S. Lewis' fantasy series. With Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes. Director: Michael Apted (1:55). PG: Scary 
 
 action sequences. At area theaters. 
 
 It's inevitable the "Chronicles of Narnia" films will be compared to a certain other epic series, but as "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" reminds us, the Pevensie family is always destined to come in second to Harry and Hermione. 
 
 These days, a big-screen franchise needs characters fans can continue to connect with. But unlike J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, who wrote his novels in the 1950s, lacked long-term marketing skills. So now, every time we return to Narnia, we're met with new faces, even while scanning the horizon for familiar ones. 
 
 Hollywood noted this problem when the second Narnia film underperformed. So a big deal has been made about the return of Tilda Swinton's villainous White Witch -- but her ghostly, barely-there cameo simply leaves us wanting more. The same is true for the older Pevensie siblings, who are awkwardly shoved into silly flashbacks. 
 
 Our real tour guides are little Lucy (Georgie Henley), her big brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and their spoiled cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). When Narnia is threatened by an evil force that radiates from a mysterious island, the kids -- joined by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), the mouse Reepicheep (Simon Pegg) and several recent recruits -- must locate and destroy it. 
 
 Henley is as adorable as ever, Poulter is a comic find, and Barnes has loosened up considerably since the last installment. The action scenes, while not especially striking, do have a game energy. But whether you compare this chapter to any "Harry Potter" or even to the first, majestic "Narnia" film, it's hard to avoid the absences at its core. 
 
 Neither director Michael Apted nor his three screenwriters connect with the deeply human emotions that propel the best fantasies. Instead, they're required to prioritize generic, faith-based messages whose blandness can't be disguised by Liam Neeson's emphatic turn as the Christ-like lion, Aslan. 
 
 Kids, of course, are unlikely to get the religious allusions. All they'll see is a decent family adventure, perfectly suited to a cold Saturday morning -- and likely to be forgotten by Sunday. ||||| 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 3D 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.: PG (for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action): 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): 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. Running time: 1:52. ||||| The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) 
 
 Not long before the children’s movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” sets sail, you might find yourself hoping for a nor’easter to come and blow this latest and perhaps last installment in the screen version of C.S. Lewis ’s series, far, far away. But where would it go? Both Never Land and Wonderland are occupied, courtesy of the Walt Disney Company, which helped produce the first “Narnia” movies, the fairly diverting “Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and the disappointing “Prince Caspian.” Now 20th Century Fox has taken up the franchise with largely dreary results. 
 
 The series has a new director, the generally reliable Michael Apted, who established his rapport with wee ones years ago with “7 Up!,” the first in a documentary series that has revisited the same group of British men and women in new movies every seven years since 1964, when the participants were squirmy 7-year-olds. Though Mr. Apted brings a few minor idiosyncrasies to “Dawn Treader” — notably with his riskily off-putting direction of the young actor Will Poulter, a “Narnia” newcomer — a strong filmmaking voice was clearly not called for in an entertainment that has been carefully calibrated for maximum blandness. Mr. Apted is aboard to keep the franchise sailing along or at least afloat, which he does. 
 
 Mr. Poulter is by far the most unexpected ingredient in the new adventure, primarily because his aggressive, chatterbox performance digs under your skin, which, as it turns out, is what makes it finally work. First seen in the independent film “Son of Rambow,” Mr. Poulter here plays Eustace Scrubb, a cousin of Lucy and Edmund Pevensie (Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes), who, with their brother Peter and sister Susan discovered Narnia. Three books and several years later, Britain is still at war, and Lucy and Edmund are squirreled away with Eustace’s family, to his loquacious displeasure. As he greedily hoards his sweets and mutters invectives, you can see the next Mike Leigh misanthrope being born before your eyes. 
 
 He keeps up the grumbling even after a maritime painting on a wall turns into a Niagara Falls, flooding a bedroom with imaginative computer-generated water and sweeping him, Lucy and Edmund out to sea. They’re soon rescued by their old comrade in arms, King Caspian (Ben Barnes), who is manning the Dawn Treader with a squeaky clean crew of men and talking beasts, including an armed (and tailed) mouse-kateer, Reepicheep (voiced by Simon Pegg). Backslapping and strained comic bits ensue, including a sword fight between a disbelieving Eustace and Reepicheep, a kind of furry Jiminy Cricket but without the mellifluous pipes. The ship makes a few pit stops on enchanted islands, amid boatloads of exposition, which reinforce the sense that it’s a long way before the series will drop anchor. 
 
 It remains to be seen whether we’ll get there — there are four more books — though it would help if a better balance were struck between the actors, most of whom could use a firmer hand, and the special effects. (This one comes in 3-D, a wasted effort.) Though there are times when the movie turns into a congested mess, as in a climactic battle that washes the screen in gray, there are moments when you also see a quieter, less industrial production. Such is the case after Eustace is turned into a grand, ungainly, unhappy dragon. When he lies forlornly on a beach, or as forlornly as dragons do, and a monstrous-size tear slides down his scaly face, you don’t just see the wizardry magic, you also see the human touch behind it. 
 
 “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is rated PG. Parental guidance suggested but not essential. 
 
 THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA 
 
 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 
 
 Opens on Friday nationwide. 
 
 Directed by Michael Apted; written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Michael Petroni, based on the book by C. S. Lewis; director of photography, Dante Spinotti; edited by Rick Shaine; music by David Arnold; production design by Barry Robison; costumes by Isis Mussenden; produced by Mark Johnson, Andrew Adamson and Philip Steuer; released by Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. 
 
 WITH: Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie), Skandar Keynes (Edmund Pevensie), Ben Barnes (Caspian), Will Poulter (Eustace Scrubb), Liam Neeson (Voice of Aslan), Simon Pegg (Voice of Reepicheep) and Tilda Swinton (The White Witch).
– Critics aren’t enthralled by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader the third film based on CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. (Its Rotten Tomatoes rating is 51%.) But there are some bright spots: Manohla Dargis calls the film “largely dreary” in the New York Times. Still, “though there are times when the movie turns into a congested mess, there are moments when you also see a quieter, less industrial production.” The film reminds us” that “the Pevensie family is always destined to come in second to Harry and Hermione,” writes Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News. It fails to “connect with the deeply human emotions that propel the best fantasies.” But at the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips has some kind words: the film, which “strikes an artful balance between allegorical religious concerns and escapist ones,” beats out its predecessors.