It's hard to have faith in 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader'

Third adventure in C.S. Lewis' fantasy series. With Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes. Director: Michael Apted (1:55). PG: Scary
action sequences. At area theaters.

It's inevitable the "Chronicles of Narnia" films will be compared to a certain other epic series, but as "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" reminds us, the Pevensie family is always destined to come in second to Harry and Hermione.

These days, a big-screen franchise needs characters fans can continue to connect with. But unlike J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, who wrote his novels in the 1950s, lacked long-term marketing skills. So now, every time we return to Narnia, we're met with new faces, even while scanning the horizon for familiar ones.

Hollywood noted this problem when the second Narnia film underperformed. So a big deal has been made about the return of Tilda Swinton's villainous White Witch -- but her ghostly, barely-there cameo simply leaves us wanting more. The same is true for the older Pevensie siblings, who are awkwardly shoved into silly flashbacks.

Our real tour guides are little Lucy (Georgie Henley), her big brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and their spoiled cousin, Eustace (Will Poulter). When Narnia is threatened by an evil force that radiates from a mysterious island, the kids -- joined by Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes), the mouse Reepicheep (Simon Pegg) and several recent recruits -- must locate and destroy it.

Henley is as adorable as ever, Poulter is a comic find, and Barnes has loosened up considerably since the last installment. The action scenes, while not especially striking, do have a game energy. But whether you compare this chapter to any "Harry Potter" or even to the first, majestic "Narnia" film, it's hard to avoid the absences at its core.

Neither director Michael Apted nor his three screenwriters connect with the deeply human emotions that propel the best fantasies. Instead, they're required to prioritize generic, faith-based messages whose blandness can't be disguised by Liam Neeson's emphatic turn as the Christ-like lion, Aslan.

Kids, of course, are unlikely to get the religious allusions. All they'll see is a decent family adventure, perfectly suited to a cold Saturday morning -- and likely to be forgotten by Sunday.

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