Directors: Chris Weitz
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ian McKellen, Eva Green, Ian McShane, Sam Elliott, Christopher Lee, Kristin Scott Thomas, Kathy Bates, Derek Jacobi
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Rated: Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence
Plot: The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people’s souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. At the center of the story is Lyra (played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who’s been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers - and winds up on a quest to save not only her world, but ours as well.

My Review: The Golden Compass was one of the two movies I managed to catch over the weekend. I was really excited to see it. I have loved New Line Cinema’s other offerings, the trailers looked awesome, the cast is incredible, and the book was it was based on by Philip Pullman was pretty good. So I really thought this film had potential. Rather I should say it did have potential. Unfortunately for everyone involved it didn’t live up to that potential.

When I first heard of the Golden Compass I thought it had the potential to be compared with Harry Potter. That comparison has quickly fallen apart. The Harry Potter films have always been known for staying true to the books but you never get the sense that they have to work at it. In The Golden Compass on the other hand I felt like certain story elements from the book were squeezed in just for completeness while others were changed or left out completely. I thought they did a poor job at the beginning of the film explaining the alternate universe in which the story takes place. They also blatantly rearranged several story elements. Despite these problems, my wife who did not read the book was still able to follow the plot which was something that concerned me. The most egregious act of story modification though was the end. I won’t spoil it for you, which isn’t hard because frankly neither did Weitz and New Line Cinema, they ended the movie before a couple of chapters before the actual book ends! They left out the ending! At least in the book you get a little closure (not much) as well as the setup for the next book. In the movie, they completely leave you hanging. Now normally you think, ‘Well they just want us to go see the next film in the series,’ but in this case there may not be one. New Line Cinemas spent approximately $180 million making the Golden Compass and could be in trouble trying to make it back based on this weekend’s box office returns. The LA Times reported that Rolf Mittweg, New Line’s president and chief operating officer of worldwide distribution and marketing, was noncommittal about the studio’s tentative plans to make two sequels, “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass,” based on the rest of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series.

The anti-religious themes in Pullman’s books have also given the film a lot of negative press recently which, I’m sure did not help its box office take. Despite the PG-13 rating, the book was watered down for kids. Most of the religious overtones were removed as well as some of the other… well lets call them unpleasant and disturbing moments in the book. This movie is probably fine for older children to go see but if you are concerned about the religious themes in the movie you may not want to get them hooked in case they make it back in to any sequels.

Now the cinematography and fantastic otherworldly settings were definitely worth the price tag. These were probably the high point of the movie. The big price tag probably also had to do with the number of big name stars in the film. Check out the list of stars above. Despite the big names most of these folks had bit parts at best. Daniel Craig who is one of the headliners of the movie and appears in all of the trailers and movie posters seems like he is barely in the film. He sets Lyra on her quest at the beginning of the film, then there is a brief clip of him getting captured and another very brief clip of him in his laboratory and that is the entire extent of his role in the film. Eva Green whose character, Serafina Pekkala, is a minor one, probably gets as much screen time as Craig’s does. New Line really didn’t need a big name actor for either of these roles.

My overall impression with this film was one of disappointment. It’s wasn’t awful. I would definitely wait to catch this one on netflix though.

Rating: 3/5 stars
High Point: Cinematography and Fantastic Landscapes
Low Point: Script and the plot

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