Giles Hardie from the Sydney Morning Herald gave the film a rotten review of two out of five shields:
“Voyage of the Dawn Treader has all the magic of a toy boat in a bathtub — it doesn’t look real, feel real or provide much excitement except for the very young.”
Jim Schembri from Australia gave the film 3.5 out of 5 shields and wrote on TheAge.com.au:
“A big improvement on the first two and a potent antidote to HP7.1, Narnia III is strongly recommended, whatever your Narnian status may be.”
Cara Nash from Filmink in Australia wrote:
“The third instalment is for the most part an exciting and emotionally resonant adventure.”
Full review available here.
Simon Miraudo from Quickflix gave the movie 2 out of 5 shields and said:
“Their mission – for reasons that are not fully explained – is to locate the seven swords of the lost Lords of Narnia, and to use them to save this world from … something. Uhh, quick a distraction! Look, special effects!”
Full review available here.
Louise Keller from Urban Cinefile said:
“The film will no doubt please the fans, with its fantastical 3D special effects and spectacular New Zealand locations, although the storytelling is convoluted and muddled”
Sacha Molitorisz from the Sydney Morning Herald said:
“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader may not reinvent the fantasy genre, it may not transcend the medium, but it is an impressive feat of imagination.”
The main competition for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is Tron Legacy which has received a 71% critic approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe received a 76% critic rating and a 62% audience rating. Prince caspian earned a 67% critic rating and a 78% audience rating. The BBC version of Voyage of the Dawn Treader had an audience rating of 59% which is just 1% less than the new Voyage of The Dawn Treader currently has. To keep things in perspective, there are currently only 15 reviews. As more reviews are added the Rotten Tomatoes rating may change. Early feedback from NarniaFaith.com‘s pastor only screenings was very positive. To read summaries of those responses click on this link. I have seen the film twice and wrote my review of the film here. I do not know if I am allowed to post my official review of the film yet, but I will share my full review with NarniaFans.com as soon as I am able to.
Not all film reviews were negative. @DanielJOfficial sent me links several optimistic movie reviews. The Daily Mail gave the film a five out of five shield rating on this webpage (read down the page to see the review). The Blue Box blog gave the film 8.5 out of 10 shields (full review here). FlickFeast gave the film a positive review (full review here). An Inidan film reviewer from Koimoi gave the film three out of five shields (full review here). Another Indian review from Indian Express gave the film two and a half out of five shields (full review here). NDTV Movies also gave the film a 2.5 out of 5 shield review (full review here). IBN movies gave the film the same 2.5 out of 5 shield rating, but said that the movie was loyal for fans (full review here). So far the reviews for Voyage of the Dawn Treader seem very mixed. Some people did not like the movie, but others thought that it was the best Narnia movie in the series. Stay tuned to NarniaFans.com because later this week I will post my full review of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.