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Here's my review of The Golden Compass. I finished reading the book right before seeing it, which was very interesting, to say the least. I highly recommending trying such a thing.
I'll be sure to elaborate more on my thoughts later, as I expect there'll be a lot of discussion about this film.
I'll be sure to elaborate more on my thoughts later, as I expect there'll be a lot of discussion about this film.
The Golden Compass
Watching The Golden Compass, I found myself in a very unique position. You see, I'd finished reading the book it's based on in the parking lot of the movie theater, a scant 15 minutes before the projector was fired up. To say that it was surreal seeing the images I'd just finished reading played out vividly in front of me would be an understatement. And saying that I was a disappointed would be another.
The story, based on a novel originally titled Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, departs from the book instantly with a prologue disclosing the existence of many different dimensions. Though the book builds to this fact gradually with hints and implications, it's stated outright here, to no discernible benefit. The voiceover goes on to explain that, in our dimension, people's souls live inside them. In the film's world, people's souls walk alongside them as animal companions known as "daemons,” an elegant, concise description which immediately situates us.
Following the prologue, we meet a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards). Lyra is an orphan being raised informally by a handful of scholars at Jordan College. She is mischievous, clever, and a natural leader; traits that will come in very handy later.
From here, the film starts on a breakneck pace. Within 15 minutes she's saved the life of her Uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), been given the titular compass (called an "alethiometer") and is happily whisked away by a charming, devious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Five more minutes, and she's fleeing from Mrs. Coulter. Five more still and she's on a ship with a group of seafaring "Gyptians." And so it continues over the bulk of the film. There is scarcely a moment that does not feel forced and constrained by the plot's inexorable march forward.
One of the few exceptions is our introduction to Iorek Byrnison, an armored polar bear voiced by Ian McKellan. McKellan's Iorek is easily the highlight of the film, and though his story is needlessly tinkered with, he is still brilliantly realized. The Golden Compass wisely recognizes his story to be the film's most exciting, and boldly follows through in his show-stopping battle with the king of the armored bears. The battle's violent conclusion is where the film earns its PG-13 rating.
Fans of any given book are, of course, notorious for their righteous outrage when a film adaptation comes along and meddles with the beloved source material. Most directors recognize this as inevitable if they are to make a decent film, but it's difficult to understand the purpose of most of the changes here. Many are harmless, but seem to serve no real purpose.
The most notorious of these changes -- and one which the book's fans are already grousing about -- is the ending. They haven't changed it, so much as they've completely excluded it. The final three chapters (spanning 40 pages) are completely removed, replaced abruptly by a vista and some flowery language. Those who haven't read the book will find the ending sudden, and those who have will be completely blindsided.
The rushed feeling, and the removal of most of the book's third act, could perhaps be forgiven if the film's runtime were an issue. But at just an hour and 53 minutes, it's 30 minutes shorter than 2005's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and 39 minutes shorter than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. One can't help but wonder what the hurry was, as even younger target audiences have proven receptive to much longer films.
The film has its merits, though. Most of the daemons are lovely to look at, and the way they mirror their human counterparts is delightful. Dakota Blue Richards is solid as Lyra, and Daniel Craig is perfectly cast as the ambitious, focused Lord Asriel.
I would be neglectful if I did not address the religious controversy surrounding the film. Though it is plainly evident that the His Dark Materials trilogy has an anti-religious bent, what little there is in the first book is all but stripped from the film. What's left is an oppressive, Church-like group known only as the Magisterium, which comes off more as a generic bureaucracy than any specific religious institution. There's not much to picket here.
All in all, The Golden Compass never seems quite sure what it wants to be about. Cut short and watered down, it spasms from one set piece to another as if running down a checklist. Director Chris Weitz, just a day after the film's release, announced his intentions to release a significant Director's Cut on DVD, and there are persistent rumors that New Line fiddled with the finished product. If so, there may be a better film in store, but in the meantime, moviegoers may find themselves repeating one of the film’s most dramatic lines: “is that all?”
Watching The Golden Compass, I found myself in a very unique position. You see, I'd finished reading the book it's based on in the parking lot of the movie theater, a scant 15 minutes before the projector was fired up. To say that it was surreal seeing the images I'd just finished reading played out vividly in front of me would be an understatement. And saying that I was a disappointed would be another.
The story, based on a novel originally titled Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, departs from the book instantly with a prologue disclosing the existence of many different dimensions. Though the book builds to this fact gradually with hints and implications, it's stated outright here, to no discernible benefit. The voiceover goes on to explain that, in our dimension, people's souls live inside them. In the film's world, people's souls walk alongside them as animal companions known as "daemons,” an elegant, concise description which immediately situates us.
Following the prologue, we meet a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards). Lyra is an orphan being raised informally by a handful of scholars at Jordan College. She is mischievous, clever, and a natural leader; traits that will come in very handy later.
From here, the film starts on a breakneck pace. Within 15 minutes she's saved the life of her Uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), been given the titular compass (called an "alethiometer") and is happily whisked away by a charming, devious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Five more minutes, and she's fleeing from Mrs. Coulter. Five more still and she's on a ship with a group of seafaring "Gyptians." And so it continues over the bulk of the film. There is scarcely a moment that does not feel forced and constrained by the plot's inexorable march forward.
One of the few exceptions is our introduction to Iorek Byrnison, an armored polar bear voiced by Ian McKellan. McKellan's Iorek is easily the highlight of the film, and though his story is needlessly tinkered with, he is still brilliantly realized. The Golden Compass wisely recognizes his story to be the film's most exciting, and boldly follows through in his show-stopping battle with the king of the armored bears. The battle's violent conclusion is where the film earns its PG-13 rating.
Fans of any given book are, of course, notorious for their righteous outrage when a film adaptation comes along and meddles with the beloved source material. Most directors recognize this as inevitable if they are to make a decent film, but it's difficult to understand the purpose of most of the changes here. Many are harmless, but seem to serve no real purpose.
The most notorious of these changes -- and one which the book's fans are already grousing about -- is the ending. They haven't changed it, so much as they've completely excluded it. The final three chapters (spanning 40 pages) are completely removed, replaced abruptly by a vista and some flowery language. Those who haven't read the book will find the ending sudden, and those who have will be completely blindsided.
The rushed feeling, and the removal of most of the book's third act, could perhaps be forgiven if the film's runtime were an issue. But at just an hour and 53 minutes, it's 30 minutes shorter than 2005's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and 39 minutes shorter than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. One can't help but wonder what the hurry was, as even younger target audiences have proven receptive to much longer films.
The film has its merits, though. Most of the daemons are lovely to look at, and the way they mirror their human counterparts is delightful. Dakota Blue Richards is solid as Lyra, and Daniel Craig is perfectly cast as the ambitious, focused Lord Asriel.
I would be neglectful if I did not address the religious controversy surrounding the film. Though it is plainly evident that the His Dark Materials trilogy has an anti-religious bent, what little there is in the first book is all but stripped from the film. What's left is an oppressive, Church-like group known only as the Magisterium, which comes off more as a generic bureaucracy than any specific religious institution. There's not much to picket here.
All in all, The Golden Compass never seems quite sure what it wants to be about. Cut short and watered down, it spasms from one set piece to another as if running down a checklist. Director Chris Weitz, just a day after the film's release, announced his intentions to release a significant Director's Cut on DVD, and there are persistent rumors that New Line fiddled with the finished product. If so, there may be a better film in store, but in the meantime, moviegoers may find themselves repeating one of the film’s most dramatic lines: “is that all?”
Last edited by Yoda; 12-08-07 at 05:34 PM.
