The Golden Compass
By Jason Revill
I know this may surprise you, but I’m not really into what “the kids” are into. I have yet to even be able to muster the enthusiasm to read the last Harry Potter installment (keep your spoilers to yourself) so whether or not the book the The Golden Compass is based on is anti-Christian/religion/Catholic Church or not is unknown to me. However I can say after seeing the film that if you didn’t see it because some talking head told you not to, well, you’re a fool and you missed out on quite a good time.
In a world where people are accompanied by outward embodiments of their souls in the form of animals there is a young orphan named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards). After her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), leaves Jordan College to study a substance called Dust against the wishes of the mysterious and oppressive Magisterium, Lyra is taken under the wing of Ms. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Ms. Coulter decides it would be best to take Lyra away to further her education, but before she does the master of the college gives Lyra an alethiometer or Gloden Compass. He tells her that it can answer any question and to above all keep it safe, because it is the only one left. After spending time with Ms. Coulter, Lyra becomes suspicious of her motives and flees from her care. Once on her own she enlists the help of Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot) and the armored bear Iorek Byrnison (Ian Mckellen) to help her track down her uncle and stop Ms. Coulter.
I have to admit that even as a person who’s not that big a fan of Nicole Kidman, she works as the film’s icy villain. Sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that she has so much collagen and botox crammed in her face that she can no longer show human emotion, but either way she’s good and you get to see her slap a monkey, which is always entertaining. It was also great to see that Dakota Blue Richards had such great performance right out of the box. It’s hard for a young actor to walk the line of making a character precocious without being annoying, but she does it. Ian McKellen shows up as the voice of the ice bear Iorek, thus fulfilling his duty to be in whatever movie franchise that comes along. Not that I’m complaining, he always does great work as does Simon McBurney and Sam Elliot. Look, if you need a cowboy you’re going to be hard pressed to find a better one than Sam Elliot. It’s an all-round fine supporting cast that rivals that of the Harry Potter series.
A lot of thought went into the production design of The Golden Compass and it completely pays off. With this film taking place in sort of a parallel world to ours, there are touches like the Dickensian nature of the children and the technology looking like a cross between something H.G. Wells or Hayao Miyazaki would have dreamed up that is both familiar yet a little foreign. Most of these are pulled off by some incredible CGI that is more than up to the task of bringing it all to life.
I went into the The Golden Compass having been brainwashed that this film was going to somehow spit in the face everything I was taught in my Andy Griffith-style childhood and shock my delicate sensibilities into a coma. Hey, guess what? It didn’t. Once again, thank you Fox News for making something out of nothing. It’s pretty ironic that so many people are trying bully us into not seeing a film that is really about free will and control. Admittedly there is a passing semblance between the Catholic Church and the Magisterium, mostly due to their style of dress and partially in action. You could have dressed them up in tan outfits with armbands and everyone would have talked about how lame it was that they looked like Nazis. Instead, they are dressed similarly to bishops and talk about how scientific advancement is heresy. It probably wouldn’t make you think of the Church had it not done that exact thing. What’s worse: referencing something the Catholic Church did in a vague allegory or making a film about the charging of Galileo with heresy for saying the sun was the center of the universe? You tell me.
Quite frankly my biggest complain is that with all these super hero, pirate, and fantasy movies clocking in at over two hours, I wish The Golden Compass were longer. There’s a lot of exposition and characters to introduce us to in this first film and it would have been nice to slows things down here and there so we could get to know them a little better before we moved on to the next unusual locale or odd companion. You should also be warned that the filmmakers really set this film up a the first part of a trilogy, so it definitely has a Fellowship of the Ring vibe in that it ends somewhat abruptly with the heroes getting prepared to go on their journey.
Admittedly, The Golden Compass is no Lord of the Rings, but it’s better than most of the Harry Potter films and The Chronicles of Narnia. There are, of course, some parts that go over the top, but they are few and far between. I wouldn’t worry too much about it corrupting the minds of your children either, besides it’s rated PG-13 anyway. Small kids might find it a little too dark. However if you want an entertaining CGI flick that has both cowboys and armored bears, where else are you going to go? Don’t let the silly trumped up controversy make you miss out on a good time at the movies. Besides, you know you want to see Nicole Kidman slap a monkey.
The Grade
- Story: B+
- Acting: B
- Visuals: A-
- Originality: B+
- Enjoyability: A-
- Overall: B+
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