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That is, two years in Narnia time – and two years since the middling success of Prince Caspian convinced Fox it could afford to step in and bankroll a third adaptation from the CS Lewis Narnia series, even Disney backed out.

Little Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) is a teenager now, practically a young woman. Reepicheep, the valiant overgrown mouse, no longer sounds like he’s about to break into a surreal comic stand up routine (Eddie Izzard has retired from vocal duties, and has been replaced by Simon Pegg). He’s put on some weight too. And for some reason Caspian (Ben Barnes) has lost the Spanish accent he had last time round, and with it some of his charisma. His men now sport red tunics of the kind you might expect to see at the Xmas panto… It’s all very disconcerting.

If the Narnia films ever had the potential to rival Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, that potential has not materialized. The budgets have not kept pace, making this look like the poor cousin in the fantasy family tree, and the juvenile leads have never seemed as personable or as interesting as Harry, Hermione et al.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader begins in suburban England during WWII, where Lucy and Edmund (Skander Keynes) have been billeted with their obnoxious cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter, from Son of Rambo). A leaky painting transports all three of them to the Narnian ocean, and a quest to find seven missing lords – and more importantly, their swords – at the far reaches of the Eastern hemisphere.

A quirkier and less warlike affair than Prince Caspian – more child-friendly – Dawn Treader feels a bit like a Caribbean cruise by way of the Bermuda Triangle.

On one island the adventurers are captured by slave traders and watch while innocent citizens are fed to a green mist – this creeping fog is what passes for a villain here. As special effects go it takes right back to the 1950s.

On another, more interesting isle, they find a deep cave and a pool that turns everything (and everyone) that touches it to gold. On another, Lucy is abducted by invisible giants and forced to steal a book of spells.

Director Michael Apted squeezes a lot of comedy out the grumpy Eustace, and Poulter milks it for all its worth, bless him. But I have to say I was relieved when he fell victim to a dragon’s curse – not least because the dragon is far and away the best actor in the movie.

It’s rather episodic and too scrappy to build much tension, but things improve in the second half as the voyage nears its destination and the kids venture into the genuinely creepy Dark Isle (which seems to have been modeled on telescopic photos from outer space).

I mentioned it’s a bit like a Caribbean cruise. It’s also not a million miles away from Pirates of the Caribbean. Some will prefer the gentler, old fashioned tempo here, along with its firm moral lessons and overt Christian symbolism, but it’s an altogether pokier and even somewhat plodding entertainment.