Der goldene Kompass

For some strange reason, a theater in the middle of the cornfield in Indiana had a sneak preview of the Golden Compass, and being a fan of the books I decided to take advantage of it. I wasn't sure what I was getting into, as there seems to be a rather large glut of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings wannabes crowding theaters now and in the near future. This version of the Golden Compass beautifully brings the books to life and was very pleasing to watch with rather nice visuals. The acting is quite good, especially from the young lead, and the animation makes one wonder what they can't do with computers these days. The only true complaint I have about this movie is that it is difficult to understand and follow if one is not familiar with the books. Some scenes at the beginning seems disconnected, but after the halfway point the story comes together. The Golden Compass series is rather dark in its nature, and I'm glad that the movie didn't pull any punches with the supernatural combat (which is awesome, specifically when the witches and bears do battle). Some liberty is taken with the story as expected, and many church references are renamed, but the quality of the story never suffers. I recommend the movie and I look forward to seeing the rest of the trilogy completed.

Some great scenes, some fascinating artwork, and, although in rather short supply, some enchanting acting performances such as from Eva Green who portrayed a witch, or from Sam Elliot who was superb, or from young Dakota Blue Richards who was indeed good, and Nicole Kidman, who always is impressive though this time maybe was not at her best.

I enjoyed the film, yes, but... something was missing and I just can not put my finger on it. The film seems to rush through the story, not flow with the story. The end comes to soon, and yet no conclusions are drawn so that a sequel will obviously follow. However, whether I would bother watching it when it does come, I really am not sure.

A nice little film... but by no means brilliant.

It says something when you almost enjoy but then have to consult Wikipedia halfway through in order to remind yourself what is going on . It was via Wikipedia that I found out a very interesting fact and that is that original novelist Philip Pullman wrote his book with a heavy anti religious tone and this almost started to make sense almost and I do emphasise almost . One can almost imagine the ruling elite of this parallel universe called the Magisterium is a metaphor for the Vatican . Did I mention almost ? Good because there's to be two things fighting against each other in this movie from a narrative point of view and I'm talking about the good guys versus the bad guys . What I mean is that despite rejecting the religious nonsense seen in the world every person reading this lives in this alternative universe is equally guilty of spiritual poppycock . All religions come under metaphysics and while not all nonsense is metaphysical just about all metaphysics is nonsense in itself . We all know someone like this is real life where someone is well educated , perhaps holding a degree in the fields of science only to let them themselves down by stating they believe in Karma or a belief that string theory suggests there's an afterlife . It's the same with THE GOLDEN COMPASS that might have rejected the existence of Abrahamic God but is happy to have other metaphysical stuff to drive the story

In other words it seems like a film that is in conflict with itself as to the subtext almost as though stuff has been added to as not to alienate the believer which seems to suggest a moral cowardice of sorts . If there's stuff been added then one also gets the instinct that a lot has been take out of the film at an editing level . Characters come and go in a haphazard manner such as Daniel Craig's Lord Asriel who disappears and you keep expecting him to make a reappearance which he doesn't really . Likewise the Magisteruim's high council who you feel are just there to give some well respected actors a brief cameo to prop up the box office . There's also a much need for exposition which is a short coming . I'm left pretty clueless as to what the significance of Dust is and other plot points . I can understand that this might have been explained more if the series had gone ahead in a planned trilogy but the poor box office showing meant that idea was scrapped which is something of a pity because for what it is a - a dark fairy tale - it works very well on a visual level with some very good performances . But that said the disjointed manner of the storytelling dooms the film to a large degree

I am among those who have not read the book and I found it to be initially confusing and boring but the film picks up after Lyra is taken into Mrs. Coultier's lavish house. The pace picks up but it may seem a little too rushed. The ending was sort of continuous, requiring a sequel. I would have liked to see the second movie but unfortunately, there is a rumour that it may not happen which is quite a pity because I thought 'The Golden Compass' was going somewhere. It is not the best movie of its kind but I thought it was not so bad either. The special effects are good. The characters are lively. I loved the daemons. It's got quite a stellar cast but only Nicole Kidman gets enough screen time to be noticed. Gorgeous, glamorous and deceitful, could not picture anyone else for the part of Mrs. Coultier. (I am almost sure that the rest were promised a lengthier role in the sequels). Daniel Craig only has about 15 minutes but he makes the best of it. Sam Elliot is funny. Dakota Blue Richards is a confident young actress and she carries off Lyra well. Overall I enjoyed the world that was created in this movie and the characters. Too bad that it's left incomplete.

The film looked good but I felt that the film had been dumbed down to make it suitable for all. A lot of people leaving the cinema had the same opinion. If the film had been longer then it could've contained more of the book and included more of the theological aspects. I think the books were so good because they expected a depth of understanding from the reader and presented ideas about the soul, etc. in an intelligent way. The reader was expected to think, something the film doesn't! The film seemed really cheesy, rather like the Chronicles of Narnia. I was hoping for something with a bit more depth, like Lord of the Rings. The cast was good and the locations all looked as I'd imagined they would. Young children will probably enjoy this and it may encourage them to read the novels.