Of Deathly Hallows and Dawn Treader

What would Christmas be without Christmas movies for the kids and adults alike. Tis season there are two such movies filled with magical spells, apparates, a fire breathing dragon and battles for good – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Besides having similarities of long titles, many would feel a bit of unfairness to compare the two movies given that the Harry Potter movie was a part one of sorts. But one does leave the theater feeling unsatisfied although mentally prepared that there would be a cliffhanger. But alas, it was not to be. If Harry Potter was supposed to be a movie about magic, it was Narnia that was more magical!

Both movies were rated 13 PG (parental guidance) as these movies are no longer for kids. As the kids in the movies have grown, so have their audiences that have followed the developments of these fabled characters religiously.

In Narnia, the Pevensies, namely Edmund and Lucy have grown a lot over the five year gap between the first film and this third installment. Compared to the Harry Potter series which had a three year gap between the first and third film, but surprisingly there were no gaps in the storytelling. The same cannot however be said for Harry Potter. Although both movies had different directors helm the storyline and direction, Narnia seems more solid.

David Yates famed for directing the previous Harry Potter movies – Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the half-blood prince, he takes his time with this chapter of the movie. It movies slowly allowing the main actors Radcliffe, Watson and Grint to play around with emotion although at a minimal level as they work to find the rest of the Horcruxes to defeat the ‘name you cannot speak’.

There are a few interesting moments when Harry, Hermione and Ron drink Polyjuice potion and assume different personas to break into the Ministry serendipitously to retrieve a locket holding one of the Horcruxes. What makes it harder for the trio is that the Ministry is now under the watch of the deadly Death Eaters after been taken over by Voldemort.

The locket plays havoc with the close friends and threatens to break them apart. This strain eventually causes a Ron to leave. Meanwhile Harry and Hermione apparate to continue their journey with no clue for Ron to find them. Ron leaving obviously affects Hermione but the play of emotions was not impactful.

We don’t really expect a showdown between Harry and Voldemort in the end of Part 1 as this is just a build up for a bigger and hopefully spectacular ending. But even as a prelude to the end, this seventh film is notable in its own right, a tense experience – darker and more menacing than any of its predecessors.

Narnia also has a new director allowing the franchise to have a different style. While the previous ones were created for kids, Micheal Apted replacing Andrew Adamson is definitely a right choice to helm this installment as it advances the Narnia film series. Apted is famous for his rendition of Gorillas in the mist, Nell and 007 the world is not enough.

As the Harry Potter movie, Narnia has also retained their main actors. Skandar Keynes returns as Edmund, Georgie Henley is Lucy while Ben Barnes returns as the handsome King Caspian. Liam Neeson loans his power vocals for Aslan the Lion while the new addition is Will Poulter who plays the whiny Eustace. The older Pevensies, Peter and Susan only make a cameo appearance.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader follows the journey of Prince Caspian, now King Caspian to find the seven lost lords of Narnia banished during King Miraz’s rule. On his way, he rescues Edmund, Lucy and their annoying cousin Eustace Scrubb who have travelled to Narnia via a picture of the Dawn Treader.

Together they adventure through the mysterious green mists that ‘swallow’ Narnians, slave traders that capture them, the beautiful blue star that captivates Edmund and Caspian, the weird dufflepuds that look like one legged hobbits and do battle with the deadly sea serpent.

The special effects for this movie were amazing especially the sea serpent and the fire breathing dragon in the final battle. Other interesting and beautiful characters are Reepicheep the mouse and the heroic Minotaur. The effect for Aslan’s land called the ‘End of the World’ is also worth mentioning.

With fewer characters as compared to the previous two movies, the character build up for Edmund, Lucy and Caspian provides moments of them struggling with their fears, temptations and the love they share for the land of Narnia and its inhabitants. It is hard not to be moved by the emotional power it portrays.

Even Eustace who was first thought as annoying and useless, given strong scenes, manage to deliver an astounding performance as the cousin and as the dragon, got the audiences rooting for him. It was also one of the poignant scenes when he shared moments with Reepicheep when learning to fight and as a mentor of sorts for the young boy.

Both movies end on a high emotional note. For Narnia, is when Reepicheep leaves and we find out that this is the last outing for Edmund and Lucy.

For Harry Potter, Dobby the elf who saves the trio time and again gives the movie a touching finale that left many in the audience affected by the screening.