As you consider whether the new Narnia movie is worth the view, here are a few considerations:
Identity crisis and the Kingdom of God: From its opening scene the Voyage of the Dawn Treader established itself as a study in identity. Edmund struggles with his royalty in Narnia chaffing against his age in Cambridge. Lucy we'll learn later despairs over her own identity as overcast by the beauty of Susan. A third character, Eustace Scrubb, has yet to discover his identity as a child, believing facts superior to fantasy and thus unable to see himself as involved in a story more magnificent than any dream.
Mission and the Kindgom of God: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader sails on a current of mission over self ambition and thus provides for viewers a narrative describing what it means to undergo suffering for the sake of the ultimate goal. While all along succumbing to the temptation to fulfill their own desires, the characters are awakened each time by the hand of providence to who they are and how that identity is inextricable from the mission to save a world from sleepy destruction.
Imagination and the Kingdom of God: In the end Aslan faces the weeping of children sad to leave Narnia and return to their world, but the Lion reminds them He's called by a different name. He brings them to the world of Narnia for a little while so they can name him better in their world. And so viewers are left realizing Lewis' intent, that this world of imagination feeds the life we live outside the imagination, emboldens us to live it bravely, reminds us for whom we live it.
Churches and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader: This film beautifully narrates many points along the journey of the Christian life, including sin and temptation, self and the mission, grace versus works in salvation and the importance of living in the world but not with the world's desires. It's a beautiful film perfect for bridge building, illustrating the work of the kingdom of God, and is perhaps the most theologically astute and nuanced of the three movies.
