Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes return as Lucy and Edmund. They do a fine job, although the intriguing scenes that confront their adolescent character flaws—Lucy’s wish for physical beauty, Edmund’s suppressed desire for power and riches—are dealt with rather hastily. Those fleeting moments tease us with the kind of thoughtful content that separates The Chronicles of Narnia from routine fantasy tales. I suppose readers of Lewis’ books will be able to fill in those gaps, while movie audiences are treated to a series of outsized adventures, brought to life with some truly breathtaking visual effects. The parade of cinematic spectacles begins when a painting in cousin Eustace’s house comes to life, and continues through encounters with a fire-breathing dragon and a particularly predatory sea serpent.