Dr Paul Allen

I loved the first two films adapted from C.S. Lewis ’  “The Chronicles of Narnia”  series. They were both strong and brilliant.  Both were big-budget, well crafted and well-received Hollywood movies that not only did justice to Lewis’ elaborate fantasy world but also captured the nuances of the Christian faith from which it grew.  Such successful intermingling of deep belief and pop art is rare. Exactly how rare is proven by  “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,”  the third film in the franchise. Despite the addition of 3-D, the magic was diminished, leaving little more than a rush of adventuresome busyness, though enjoyable but still not quite right. It was enjoyable as a 3D movie but it came across as a very simple story on morals. More frustrating is the fact that Lewis has been lost. What was a probing, theological narrative from one of the great Christian thinkers has been reduced to a childish morality play. “The Voyage of the ...

I loved the first two films adapted from C.S. Lewis ’  “The Chronicles of Narnia”  series. They were both strong and brilliant.  Both were big-budget, well crafted and well-received Hollywood movies that not only did justice to Lewis’ elaborate fantasy world but also captured the nuances of the Christian faith from which it grew.  Such successful intermingling of deep belief and pop art is rare. Exactly how rare is proven by  “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,”  the third film in the franchise. Despite the addition of 3-D, the magic was diminished, leaving little more than a rush of adventuresome busyness, though enjoyable but still not quite right. It was enjoyable as a 3D movie but it came across as a very simple story on morals. More frustrating is the fact that Lewis has been lost. What was a probing, theological narrative from one of the great Christian thinkers has been reduced to a childish morality play. “The Voyage of the ...

Fear, Temptation , and the Narrow Passage in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by  Marc T. Newman, Ph.D. Breathtakingly beautiful,  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  is another in a series of thought-provoking adaptations of C.S. Lewis’  The Chronicles of Narnia . For book purists, there will always be the shock of seeing changes to a beloved storyline (for me, the second viewing is always better than the first because I can now watch the film on its own merits). But none of the films have shied away from confronting important moral and spiritual issues present in the books. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  is no exception – fear is the target of temptation, and easy solutions are both alluring and damning, but there is always a way out, if we will only seek it. How many modern books or films deal with these kinds of dilemmas that both children and adults daily face? That is the wonder of Lewis – his stories hold rich meaning at whatever level you encounter them...