items tagged with The Tourist

Before commencing with the annual fawning, I thought I’d begin by exercising one of my God-given rights as a reviewer: the right to bitch about the sorry state of movies. I think it’s supposed to go something like this:

Boy, are the movies in a sorry state!

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

In the third cinematic installment of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, the cumbersomely titled The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we’re introduced to a character new to the franchise – a grouchy little snot named Eustace Scrubb. The pre-adolescent cousin to the young heroes of 2005’s The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe and 2008’s Prince Caspian, this kid, played by Will Poulter, is truly a piece of work – closed-minded, miserly, cowardly, and prone to explosively motor-mouthed bouts of hysteria. With his constantly knit brow and the voice of an aggrieved, middle-aged schoolmarm, Poulter’s Eustace is about the most obnoxious, potentially alienating figure that you could ever imagine popping into this fantasy saga. He’s also so side-splittingly funny that he almost singlehandedly makes Dawn Treader not just enjoyable, but easily the most surprising screen Narnia to date.