It's a question you may be asking yourself: "Should I watch The Voyage of the Dawn Treader?" I would argue YES -- especially if you're a Christian -- and not just because it's a great fantasy adventure, with awesome action scenes and special effects, (which I'm sure it is), but because Christians need to send the message to the film world that WE WANT THEM TO MAKE MORE CHRISTIAN MOVIES.
Here's the deal.
Apparently, about half a decade ago Disney and Walden Media realized there were a lot of Christians in America. They realized that if they geared a film toward a Christian audience, they could make a lot of money. So, they came out with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005. (These are my assumptions, but I can't imagine they had any other reasons.) The movie was a hit; it grossed almost $300 million, with the production budget at $180 million.
But then when the sequel, Prince Caspian, came out in 2008, many Christians were frustrated with small things in the movie. There was an added, unnecessary romance. There were a lot of changes made to the main story line, because the book did not translate as easily to the movie screen as the first book had. Because of this, so many people refused to watch or support the film that -- according to narniaweb.com -- it ended up grossing only half the amount of money that was expected.
Then, the third film was produced: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This time, Disney was not involved in the production of the movie, and there was also a new director. Also according to narniaweb.com, the makers of the Narnia movies are NOT GOING TO CONTINUE THE SERIES if this movie does not turn out well. In other words, if this ends up being another "Prince Caspian", so to speak, and it does not make much money, there will be no more Narnia movies. If it does make a lot of money, however... the series will continue.
It's up to you. Do you want Walden Media to keep making Narnia movies?
Then watch The Dawn Treader.
Do you want Walden Media to stop making Narnia movies?
Then don't watch The Dawn Treader.
But I think this means even more than that. The Narnia movies were a test; a test to see how successful a Christian movie would be. Do you want the people in the film industry to realize that a Christian film CAN in fact be successful?
Then watch The Dawn Treader.
Do you want them to believe that producing a film geared toward Christians is a waste of their time and money?
Then don't watch The Dawn Treader.
If you believe these things... if you want there to be more Narnia movies, and you want there to be more high-budget Christian movies, then don't just stop with watching it yourself. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Please, spread the word to anyone else who believes the same!
And please don't wait... it's the money they make on the opening weekend that matters the most. So get out there this December 10 and watch THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER!
