The Golden Compass Reviews

In the flurry of generic YA novel adaptions currently on the market - a newly created genre that shows no clear signs of stopping before 2017 - one would have to look several years back to remember the book-to-film trend that preceded these. This much more rewarding niche genre was the children's fantasy novel adaptations. Starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 2001, dozens of other books/films have attempted to duplicate the boy wizard's box office. And while many such attempts were fairly entertaining (such as Spiderwick Chronicles and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events), disappointing box office returns (or lack of interest) prevented many would-be franchises from getting off the ground. The Golden Compass suffered the same fate, making very little profit due to overseas rights being sold and lukewarm reception in America. However, in this case, it's more of a blessing than anything that any sequels to The Golden Compass never came to fruition.

Honestly, the premise itself shows quite a bit of promise. The film takes place in a world like ours, where every person's soul actually lives as an animal creature called a dæmon that follows you everywhere you go. The plot itself, is much more convoluted, and honestly, it's very difficult to describe. Here's all you really need to know: The main character is a girl named Lyra. Her uncle believes that there are alternate worlds. The wicked Mrs. Coulter wants control of the universe. And then there's something about child kidnapping that doesn't really get explained.

There is nary a scene in the film that makes much sense. Every single one leaves some kind of puzzling question or hole in the screenplay. I suspect that Philip Pullman's book (which I have not read) gives a lot more detail regarding some of the curious character decisions and confusing plot devices, but the movie explains nothing.

And yet, at the same time, it seems to explain everything. At least, that's what you would think considering that 95% of the dialogue in this film is exposition. That is not an exact percentage, but I'd venture to say it's not too far off. Needless to say, the script is bad. If the dialogue isn't giving some form of backstory or information you'll need to know later, it's just plain cringe-worthy.

What's worse is that just about every scene is crammed with as much talking as possible, which wouldn't be a problem if the script was significantly better. As is, though, the screenplay is an atrocity, meaning that there's very little here that will remain in memory. The whole film is a tedious and forgettable experience - a waste of two hours.

But problems with the script don't stop there. The film has some major continuity issues. When enemies are killed in this film, they explode in a flurry of gold, sparkly dust. Needless to say, this effect disappears at several intervals, and reappears at later ones. Also, when the dæmons are hurt, the owners are affected as well (and vice versa). And yet, this is contradicted at several intervals.

The visuals are a frequent target of praise for this film, though I can't imagine why. The movie looks incredibly cheap. At times it seems like a made-for-TV production. When characters pick up and/or pet their CGI
dæmons, it always looks laughably phony. And the film has a limited number of special effects shots compared to other fantasy films. Also, several shots appear to be re-used, and while the polar bears do look pretty great, we unfortunately have to endure about a dozen shots of them roaring at the camera (this is approximately 11 more times than needed).

The art direction is also terribly misguided. The Golden Compass alludes to a steampunk-esque world, but outside of a few inventions and airships there isn't much "steampunk" here. Besides, most of the film takes place in the snow, anyway.

The cast is full of big names, though the characters themselves are thinly drawn and uninteresting. The protagonist is a spunky young girl named Lyra, who spends the entire film getting rescued by other people - often because of her stupidity and rash decisions. Dakota Blue Richard's performance of this character is adequate, but unremarkable. Child actors Ben Walker and Charlie Rowe fare much better in supporting roles.

Nicole Kidman portrays the films primary antagonist, Mrs. Coulter. It's never really clear if the character is entirely evil, or perhaps could be reformed (she has very strong feelings about Lyra). Unfortunately, that means the character itself is completely dissatisfying, and there is no resolution for this either. This is not a tastefully ambiguous artistic choice. This is weak writing.

We also have Daniel Craig who has all of three or four scenes (despite being featured prominently in promotional material), and is entirely forgettable (thanks to a bland character). For some reason, Christopher Lee is in this movie in one short and almost unnecessary scene in which he gets one (or perhaps two) lines of dialogue. Eva Green shows up to give more exposition and Sam Elliott is surprisingly tolerable as a Texan airship pilot (which is as strange as it sounds).

The voice cast, thankfully, is quite a bit better. Freddie Highmore voices Lyra's dæmon (a meerkat) and his performance is charming enough (though the character is forgettable). Ian McKellan is especially good as Iorek Byrnison (a polar bear), though once again, the character itself is extremely weak.

Alexandre Desplat's score is surprisingly restrained. While there were several scenes that were ripe for an explosion of grand fanfares or bold theme statements, they don't really show up. The score is pleasant enough, but completely unmemorable in the context of the film.

The Golden Compass is tedious and numbing in an irritatingly persistent manner - I liken the experience to getting eaten by a toothless camel. Nothing happens in this movie. The script is awful, the visuals look cheap, and the storyline is so loose and almost non-existent that the audience loses interest before it even gets off the ground (which it never does). It's a surprising disaster that fails to entertain or engage. If you're looking for a solid fantasy flick, The Golden Compass can only lead you astray.

This movie is well produced and has a perfect role, but I don't know why, the story seemed very boring to me on the way Chris Weitz directed. It could be better, I believe that some important scenes could be more breathtaking, and I got really disappointed with the end, it led me to vacuum because it has no sequel.

Even after scrubbing this garbage of its anti-Christian themes, it stunk! Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman act like they phoned their parts in; Eva Green's role was wasted and the whole thing was long and boring.

This movie was supposed to be huge. Following the success of the Harry Potter franchise and even more 'The Lord of the Rings', the producers were looking for their new cashcow. And, indeed, they tried really bad to reproduce The Lord of the Rings success but it didn't work out and the sequels were cancelled. Actually if I remember correctly, even though it did tank in the US but it was actually fairly succesfull in the rest of the world. Anyway, in spite of the nice open ending, we didn't get a sequel... In my opinion, I think it was too bad because it had a great cast (Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, and the voice of Ian McKellen), some very nice visuals and the story was entertaining enough. Of course, I have no idea if it was faithful to the book or not since I haven't read it but I thought it was a decent fantasy feature and it didn't deserve such a bad rep, in my opinion. After re-watching it, I think the main issue was that that the whole thing was rather poorly written. I mean, they managed to create an intriguing world but the plot was really rushed, randomly jumping from an event to another. Apparently, Chris Weitz shouldn't be blamed since the complete movie was recut by the studio. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, there are way worse movies which get sequels and I think this flick is actually very well made and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

"If you value your life, come no further! "

Honestly, it was the presence of Daniel Craig which drew me to this film more than anything else. :)) However, I knew that this would probably be a film I could sink my teeth into after I read the initial summary in IMDB. And when I saw this film in theatres, I knew that I was right. Young Lyra Belaqua (Blue Richards) lives in a world where every human has his/her own animal counterpart, called a daemon. Hers is a twitchy little ferret named Pan (voice by Highmore). Her uncle is the famous (or, in the case of the members of the Magesterium, infamous) Lord Asriel (Craig), who has been avidly studying Dust, which is a taboo subject with the Magesterium. Despite many attempts to stop him from collecting more information on Dust, even attempting to kill him using poison in the wine, Lord Asriel goes about his task unfettered. After delivering a talk to a group of people, among which is a member of the Magesterium, Lord Asriel departs for the North, where he believes that Dust is in huge supply. Before he leaves, however, he cautions Lyra, his niece, about being too curious about Dust. Cue in Mrs. Marisa Coulter (Kidman), who becomes instantly enamored with Lyra and insists that she should stay with her while completing her education. However, Lyra soon discovers Mrs. Coulter's true nature, and she escapes. What follows shortly after that is Lyra's entanglement with the very forces her uncle warned her about. When I read the article about this movie being anti-Christ, I was intrigued. Well, basically, when I watched "The DaVinci Code", all I saw were the workings of an overactive writer's imagination, and not something that the Church should be nervous about, if they're sure that their 'followers' everywhere have a firm hold on their belief. So I took my usual movie money and sat through the showing. And what I saw was a movie not short of amazing, brilliant, and fantastic. Every scene was wonderful, and the cast was simply superb. The whole concept of Dust, and the exploitation of children was good, the latter being so because it's quite evident in society today, and I think it's supposed to be addressed by world leaders, and that the filmmakers were right to put an emphasis on it. I cannot say a bad word about the cast, because they all did a good job, and the discovery of Dakota Blue-Richards as Lyra Belaqcua is a first. Love this movie, and I can't wait for the sequel.

So I completely understand that movies are not books. They are a different media all together and you get different things from them. I understand that when making a movie adaptation, it can be really difficult to please everyone because it's hard to squeeze all that content into a watchable length of time and not bore the crap out of anyone.

That said, I do think there are ways to do it. For example, you might choose to omit things from a movie that were part of the book if they are not central to the storyline. Or combine certain elements, or... whatever. I don't think they tried to do any of that in this movie. I think they just wanted to cram every scrap of the book into the movie that they just managed to give a summary of the book. I felt like the scenes were really rushed, barely able to get into a scene before being whisked off to the next event. Nicole Kidman was not very believable as Mrs Coulter. You felt there was something off with her right from the beginning when they should have made you like her, as Lyra does, at first.

All in all, I felt it was just a rushed summary of the book. I would have preferred to miss out on some key scenes and seen some deeper development of the more important points, or just a longer movie. The graphics were nice and the movie itself was pretty to watch, but overall a poor adaptation of the book. I found it at least entertaining, although if I hadn't read the book I probably would have been confused at parts. The book was excellent so I hope the movie doesn't discourage others from reading it.

''It's an alethiometer. It’s a truth measure - a golden compass. It enables you to see what others wish to hide.... You can ask any sort of question you can imagine. Once you've got your question framed...''

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

Dakota Blue Richards: Lyra

His Dark Materials: The Northern Lights, the original name for the book, in England. What a mysterious, enticing title for a book. The Golden Compass? Well, it doesn't quite have the same effect on us, does it? The use of the American name of the book for the film really didn't falter my opinion of the film, but as early warning signs come, it doesn't get much more obvious than this. We should have assumed from the start, that this was going to be a very different venture, to the book.

''There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons.''

As a huge fan of Philip Pullman's epic trilogy, I had been eagerly anticipating this film adaptation for a long while. I had fallen in love with the books a while back, not due to the fantastical elements, but due to the way it introduced this fantastical parallel universe to the reader in a slow, subtle, familiar way and made it feel real and tangible. The books are gritty, rugged and at times violent, and the stories' themes are philosophical and even spiritual in a way. It grieves me to say that the film misses the point, concentrating instead, on the fantasy, the action and the giant talking polar bears.
Franchises and series like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings have never apologized about their overt paganism. Likewise, The Chronicles of Narnia have never been accused of being subtle as a Christian allegory. These series, in both literary and film forms, have been massive hits due to their unapologetic natures that speak truths to their ardent fan bases. British writer Philip Pullman's darkly subversive anti-religious fantasy books have also been hugely successful, more so overseas than here in the States. Stripped of the books' overt atheistic messages, The Golden Compass takes a reverse psychology approach in its film treatment and oddly positions itself as an apology for Pullman's work. The result is a tepid affair that joins a long line of fantasy films about children discovering they are the chosen ones destined to save the world. At least this film is refreshing in its stance on girl-power as represented in the main character Lyra, played wonderfully by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, who apparently is a graduate of the Dakota Fanning school of acting. Whether or not this tactic to strip the film of its soul (much like the Magesiterium strips children of their daemons) will make the film broadly appealing enough to warrant a franchise has yet to be determined.

The Golden Compass manages to remain dull and unimaginative. Its idea that these people (who inhabit an alternate 'Earth) have their souls on their outside is an interesting one, yet on screen, we are supposed to relate to these characters by way of their animal accomplices, for instance: Lord Asriel's (Craig) is a beastly feline: strong and powerful who knows what's what; Marisa Coulter (Kidman) has a monkey of some sort; suggesting not a playful and cheeky persona but one that could change from good to aggressive very quickly; the other example is of the hero; Lyra Belacqua (Richards) whose daemon keeps changing from cat to bird to chipmunk suggesting she hasn't quite 'found herself' yet although the fact she's only about ten probably has something to do with this. Fine, you think but the faceless enemy soldiers that guard utopian government looking buildings as disturbing experiments go on inside are all accompanied with either Doberman dogs or wolves – do the guards not have personalities? This is a glaring lack of consistency.

''It's an alethiometer. It tells the truth. You are meant to have it. You keep the alethiometer to yourself, it's of the utmost importance to yourself, to all of us, and perhaps to all creation.''

The actual character hero of Lyra was also a problem. There are too many scenes that rely on child acting in this film and what's more, Lyra goes about her adventure as if she's twenty years older that what she actually is. She is smarter than she should be; braver and more of a leader than she should be. More often than not, she achieves things adult characters cannot: persuading the polar bear to join them; destroying the 'cutting' device and being able to negotiate her way out of death with a king polar bear who is a hundred times more powerful than she is. Of course if she was any older, the film would be Tomb Raider mixed with Narnia but that's a different story. I'm sure there was faithful material to the book somewhere in The Golden Compass but there's me thinking it was perhaps going to go down the route of Indiana Jones or The Mummy, how wrong I was. The film sets up its idea for its narrative in a similar adventure way, what with the mentioning of the alternative world (our world) and the giving of the compass to Lyra and yet it totally ignores its roots from here on. This film basically turns into a recruitment process with Kidman's and Craig's characters hovering around in the background although never creating a presence, this is cannon fodder for nine year olds, but then there's the complicated narrative and the fact other films of this genre, were for people of all ages anyway.

What we are led to believe is that in this world, they haven't made the technological advancements like cars and aeroplanes (their cars resemble horse and carts without the horses and they fly around in blimps) yet build vast utopias, that still find room to house criminals of some description, whose main aim is to 'cut' away the souls of children at the first mention of the word 'dust' – yes, it's that bizarre. Mangled in with this, the character of Iorek Byrnison (McKellan - who is a CGI Polar Bear hilariously resembling a down and out P.I. in a film noir when first introduced) is given a sub-plot involving him rediscovering his 'armour' (metaphor for masculinity) and from there, he develops into a really guilty example of a fatherly figure for Lyra after it's established she lost her father previously. Thrown in amongst all this tosh is a CGI fist-fight between two polar bears trying to prove who is 'king'.

It is the right time to mention the cast: Nicole Kidman delivers an eerie and chilling rendition of Marisa Coulter; a person who knows people high up in whatever hierarchy the school has. She also seems to get nastier and nastier as the film progresses but some of her lines she's given do not aid her in her career: "I'll find you, Lyra(!)" Oh, how evil. But the biggest disappointment is Daniel Craig who's present for about three scenes and then vanishes – this'll be the easiest pay-cheque he'll ever pick up, unless they make a sequel. In short, avoid this film even if you are a fan of the genre.

''One compass remains, however, and only one who can read it.''

A poorly made mess of a movie that attempts to stuff far too much into the length than possible and still doesn't even begin to get very interesting. No identifiable wounds from any sort of fighting for the supposed benefit of the children either.

On the positive side the world it portrays seems rather fascinating and the actors and the realization of this alternate universe are fairly well done. I'm sure reading the books is a far more enjoyable experience.

I can't believe the movie got such bad ratings. Books are books, movies are movies, these are adaptations for the big screen. People still enjoyed Harry Potter's books and movies despite the fact that they differed slightly.
Now, I admit I haven't read the Northern Lights series, so I'm really reviewing the Golden Compass movie.

As a movie, it's an enjoyable one for the entire family. In fact, we all sat together to watch it and looked forward to seeing it. Even though some of the CGI isn't particularly well done (I'm thinking of the bears and the wolves particularly), the rest was pretty amazing.
I loved the concept of the inner daemons and how it was shown in the movie.
The acting is superb, especially that of Dakota Blue Richards. I never will say that teenagers can't act anymore; they obviously can, with the right director. It's too bad Daniel Craig didn't have a bigger role, he's excellent as Lyra's "uncle".

Watch with the family. Everyone should enjoy this film for its magical story.