First Paragraph of Spoiler Text

This movie is farther from the book than the previous Narnia films. The first islands visited are The Lone Islands. These islands were changed significantly from the book, but I thought it was changed for the better. When the characters are in prison they meet Lord Bern. The way that Lord Bern, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace are rescued is through a battle where the crew of the Dawn Treader use their sword skills to free the prisoners. This scene is not like in the book, it is better than in the book. I think the book has a marvelous chapter involving Governor Gumpas, but it would not translate very well into a film. The action sequence is very short, but it is one of the best couple of minutes in the movie. The fast-paced fight scene was good, but what made the scene exceptional was the soundtrack by David Arnold, which did a great job of drawing viewers into the pulse of the action. Governor Gumpas was in the movie, but only as a cameo role. On The Lone Islands Rhince joins the Crew of the Dawn Treader to search for his missing wife Elaine (who was sacrificed to the green smoke monster). Rhince’s daughter Gael sneaks on board the Dawn Treader. Before leaving The Lone Islands, Lord Bern gives the crew of the Dawn Treader a magical sword which was one of seven needed to save Narnia from a green smoke monster. The order of the islands was changed from the book and a few islands were combined, but I did not mind this change because all of the key parts of the book were in the movie. There was one awful line of dialogue in the film where King Caspian talks about his romance with Queen Susan. When I heard this line, I cringed. Aslan turns Eustace back into a boy near the end of the movie after dragon Eustace fights a sea serpent. The transformation was presented in a way that would be more family friendly to give the movie a PG rating and showed that Eustace did not earn his salvation. Spiritual themes from the book were intact including the “in your world I have another name” dialogue. Ramandu was not in the movie. The film did not have enough time or depth to fully explain the mythology behind Ramandu. The White Witch makes a minor cameo on the Dark Island as Edmund’s nightmare, but this was not as out of place as the trailer makes it seem.