The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Lucy, Edmund and their grumpy cousin Eustace fall through a painting into Narnia. They sail with King Caspian to find seven lost lords and stop a dark evil. Each of them is tempted to do wrong and has to choose what is right. Aslan the great lion helps them, and there is a scary sea monster. This is the Narnia film that says the quiet part aloud. Aslan tells Lucy that in our world he has another name, and that she must learn to know him by it. Each one is tested: Lucy by the wish to be beautiful, Edmund by jealousy, Caspian by longing for his father. Eustace cannot free himself from being a dragon, and Aslan does it for him. The plot adds a quest for seven magical swords that Lewis never wrote.
For parents
PG. The Catholic News Service classed it A-II, adults and adolescents, for considerable peril and bloodless violence. Common Sense Media says ten and up. Lumen follows the Catholic classification, and a parent who knows the books may judge a steady ten year old ready. The scary parts: a huge sea serpent, an island with human sacrifices, skeletons, a lord turned to gold, and Eustace the dragon stabbed with a sword. Magic: Lucy is tempted by the wish to be as pretty as her sister and learns to accept herself. The magic is story-world magic, and the temptation is shown as a temptation. Also note Edmund lying about his age to enlist and a girl who stows away against orders. After the film, read Lewis's chapter on the undragoning aloud. Ask: what is Aslan's other name? Why could Eustace not scrape the dragon skin off by himself? What was each child tempted by? Where do we see that in Baptism and Confession?